


Moments Like This

by AngelTheFourthDragneelBrother



Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: Apologies, Creepslayerz, Eli has a science crisis, Hurt/Comfort, I haven't seen 3below cuase it ain't out yet, I live off the tears of readers, I suck at tagging, M/M, Making Out, Mentions of past abuse, Mutual Pining, Original Character - Freeform, Steli, That should give you a hint, There is not enough Fanfiction about my boys, Training, Trans Character, Warning Steve is bitchy at times, cursing, keep that in mind, there are feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-08 06:41:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 78,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13452666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelTheFourthDragneelBrother/pseuds/AngelTheFourthDragneelBrother
Summary: Following right after the last episode of season two “In the Hall of the Gumm-Gumms”. Steve and Eli have numerous questions for Jim (mostly Eli obviously) and Jim, of course, gets fed up with the non-stop questions, but even more so he gets fed up with Steve and Eli’s arguing. Jim understood that Steve and Eli had “history” to say the least, but if the Creepslayerz where going to work with the Trollhunters then those two were going to have to get along better. Given how he needs to train more now that Gunmar has taken over Troll market, he comes up with the idea for Eli and Steve to stay at the Troll’s new location for a week to train and get the answers to their questions (in a way that doesn’t involve them pestering him 24/7)





	1. Creep Guardians?

**Author's Note:**

> I WROTE THIS STORY BEFORE SEASON THREE WAS RELEASED, SO IF YOU’RE READING THIS AFTER THE THIRD SEASON COMES OUT PLEASE TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION. THANK YOU, LOVELY PEOPLE OR OTHER LIFE FORMS THAT MAY BE READING. The goal of this story? To make you tear out your hair at the stupidity of these two. :)  
> Okay so recently I finished watching the second season of Trollhunters on Netflix (which is fucking amazing) and I have completely fallen for the ship of Eli and Steve; the thing is that I’m not able to find many fanfictions about them. So I was just like, screw it and wrote my own ^.^ Oh and Ahem, Trusty Wikipedia says that Steve is sixteen so let’s assume that Eli is too, okay dearies?

Saturday Night

   “Stop bugging me mom!” Eli shouted as he entered his room, slamming the door behind him and cutting off his mother’s shouting about what he had been doing out so late at night and what he had been doing on a motorcycle again even though hr had stated numerous times that it was not a motorcycle but a Vespa.

   If anything she should be thanking Steve for bringing him home. Besides, he had worn a helmet.

   “Elijah Leslie Pepperjack!” She warned in her ‘mom’ voice.

   “Sorry mom!” He quickly apologized, immediately turning meek once more.

   Eli unclipped his helmet and took it off, holding it at his side. He leaned back against the door with his eyes closed and let out a heavy sigh. He always got like this after a Creepslayerz mission; bold and just a tad bit reckless (or stupid, whatever you wish to call it). He just blamed the adrenaline rush every time. It had probably started on the first night of the Creepslayerz forming when he had gotten Steve back in line after his small freak out.

   And the day he had just had certainly merited a grade A adrenaline rush. Saving creepers-trolls from a sun induced death, helping to evacuate them, lugging umbrellas back and forth. That last part didn’t exactly sound straining but doing anything a hundred times would tire anyone out. Oh and doing all this under the information that someone-something called Gunmar the Black Skullcrusher and his new army could come and attack them at any moment? Yeah, no pressure at all. But by some miracle, they had done it. After all, he and Steve were the Creepslayerz, nothing they couldn’t do.

   Or should they be called the Creepprotecterz now? Creep Guardians? That just sounded wrong. He’d discuss that with Steve later.

   Anyway, back to Eli’s adrenaline rush and the slight but noticeable confidence boost that came with it. After a mission and the inevitable rush there were two possible outcomes. One was that the rush would leave him completely sapped of strength and he would pass out as soon as his head hit the pillow in a sleep that some doctors might define as a coma. The other was that the rush didn’t completely fade and would leave him with a nice little buzz of sorts. Eli felt like his body was leaning towards the second one.

  Eli sighed once more, a smile playing on his lips as he moved away from the door, set the helmet on his desk and lied down on his bed, hands behind his head. Tonight would definitely mark an important moment in the Creepslayerz career, what with their huge rescue and Jim’s promise of explaining everything. Not tonight or course, tonight was for the relocating of the cre-trolls.

   He had a million and one questions, some that maybe even Jim couldn’t answer. But Eli could hope. He ran through the mental list of questions, rehearsing them in his head and even the possible answers to them. If at least one of his theories was correct…well he just might explode.

   His phone buzzed in his back pocket, cutting off his train of thought. Eli shifted up a bit and retrieved his mobile from the pocket before unlocking it and reading the text from ‘Creepslayerz first half’. Otherwise known as the name that Eli had set for Steve. They had had each other’s numbers before even forming their little team but before that Steve had just used his number to threaten Eli into doing his homework for him.

 _‘Your mom kill you yet?’_ The text read.

   Eli’s smile widened and he rolled his eyes before typing out a response. ‘ _We’ve fought a goblin, a goo monster and just helped a hundred or so trolls escape from a blood thirsty killer. I don’t think my mother will be the one to do me in.’_

   The reply came less than ten seconds later ‘ _Smart ass._ ’

   ‘ _Well one of us has to be.’_ Prior to forming the team Eli wouldn’t have even dared dream of sending something like that but he was still feeling the buzz and well…it wasn’t as if Steve was in front of him.

   ‘ _Ouch. It’s bad enough that coach chewed my ass for getting home late, now Leslie is talking back to me.’_

 _‘If I wanted to be called Leslie I would just go to my mom’_ Eli replied with an emoji rolling it’s eyes at the end.

   ‘ _Touché.’_

   He bit his lip before asking the million dollar question that he knew was on both of their minds at the moment. ‘ _So do you think that Jim and the others were able to find a place for the trolls?_ ’

   ‘ _Yeah, he seemed to already have a place in mind. Although I just might kick the dork’s butt for not telling us where that place is.’_

   Eli snorted a bit at that and was about to type out another smart ass reply when there was one more text from Steve.

   ‘ _Btw, you did a good job today.’_

   He wasn’t quite sure that he had read that correctly so he re-read it, grinning brightly as he did. The one who used to shove him into lockers just said that he had done a good job. Yeah, that gave him the right to be giddy.

   ‘ _Thanks! :) But your genius idea of using umbrellas to protect them from the sun was what saved the day.’_

   This time there wasn’t an immediate reply. ‘I didn’t say anything wrong did I?’ Eli thought, fretting a bit. He was often pretty self-conscious of whatever he said or did so it was fairly easy of him to double guess himself.  Besides, Steve wasn’t exactly known for having the best patience in the world. Eli just felt like anything he did was going to end up riling the other up; true that hadn’t been the case since they’d undoubtedly grown closer but still. It was Eli’s paranoia that had gotten him so far in the first place. 

   He let out yet another sigh as he took off his glasses, (instantly reducing his eyesight to that of a bat’) set them down next to his pillow and turned off his bedside lamp, bathing the room in the dim glow of his computer monitor. And even though he wasn’t tired he forced his eyes shut and willed himself to go to sleep.

   At least that’s what he had planned to do before the phone buzzed with a new text alert once more.

_‘Thanks’_

   Eli let out a breath that he hadn’t known he had been holding. ‘ _You’re welcome.’_

_‘Hey, monday at lunch, want to ask Jim those questions??? I got a feeling that he’s pretty much booked for the weekend’_

   ‘ _If I can it would be awesome.’_

_‘How many do you even have, Brainiac?’_

_‘Hm…’_ He wrote as if he was actually pondering the question ‘ _So far 352- no wait, 353.’_

 _‘Why is it that I can find that believable? =_=’_ Steve replied and Eli could practically see the other rolling his eyes. ‘ _I’ll let you do most of the talking then.’_

_‘As long as you agree to not let Jim slice me in half with that sword of his if he gets annoyed at all my questions’_

_‘No promises, buttsnack.’_

_‘Mean. What would you do without the other half of the Creepslayerz?’_

_‘Replace u with a troll.’_ The answer came half a second later and now it was Eli’s turn to roll his eyes.

 _‘You wouldn’t dare.’_ He replied in mock hurt.

_‘U never know, that one troll with green fur looked much stronger than you.’_

_‘They all look stronger than me!’_ Eli answered with a small laugh.

   ‘ _True. Besides, having a scrawny partner like you does make me look more heroic in comparison_.’

   Their banter continued like this for some time and somehow in the midst they managed to make plans for the following week day. Go to school as normal and bombard-er, politely ask Jim for answers as to what exactly was happening to Arcadia, what was that pocket watch looking thing, etcetera, etcetera. Not to mention seeing as to how Claire was able to make those portals with that staff.  Needless to say Monday was sure to be eventful to say the least. So after texting for who knows how long, Eli finally was tired enough to go to sleep and get the rest he more than deserved.

   Although nothing could have prepared him for the chain reaction Monday’s events would set off...


	2. Why?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry!  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> Not.  
> Steve and Eli (mostly Eli) get to ask those questions!  
> Semi long chapter, once again the format on a laptop and mobile is different. Also I think school lunches are tasty, many people think differently =_= I ALWAYS LEAVE REALLY LONG NOTES AT THE END, DEAL WITH IT. (Don't hate me ^.^')

 Monday-

   Eli woke up in a daze, not knowing how to make sense of whatever was making that annoying beeping noise as he tried to shake sleep from his mind. He fumbled blindly at the bedside table before finally switching off the alarm clock and thus ending the relentless blaring. He continued to blindly grope around next to his pillow until he located his glasses, cleaning them a bit on his shirt as he sat up. Eli allowed himself a moment to yawn and stretch his arms over his head, groaning a bit as he worked out the kinks from his shoulders.

   Then he got to work.

   He had designed a training schedule for himself. He hadn’t told Steve about it because he already felt like he was the weakest member of the Creepslayerz and felt embarrassed that he needed the extra help. True there were only two members of the team thus far but he wanted to at least feel like Steve’s equal and didn’t want them to be held back because of him.

   Eli slipped on the wireless headphones and keyed up one of the workout playlists on his phone before moving to the middle of his room where there was more space.

   How the training worked: Monday through Friday he would exercise in the morning before school (and sometimes after as well) giving him the weekend free although some Saturdays or Sundays he felt like going for a morning run or something of that sort. Today was Monday which meant that it was core day. Sit-ups, knee-tucks and planks (I would physically fight whoever invented planks if I could). Nothing too extensive, just enough so that he could improve over time.

   He wasn’t stupid, Eli knew that he couldn’t expect immediate results and that he shouldn’t overdo it in order to avoid pushing himself to far, but…if he could at least do more than the previous week then that was enough for him.

   It was only when Eli had finished his exercises that he realized that was still in yesterday’s clothes, he had been at the grocery store helping out the manager, it was basically just his clothes and the apron that the manager always had him wear as a formality (how he had completely forgotten about the apron is beyond me). He liked it there; besides his room it was one of the places where he felt safest. It wasn’t a part time job or anything, he didn’t get paid (even though the Mr. Mori, the manager, always offered giving him a part time job), he just liked helping out. Although he was probably going to agree to that offer soon, he might need it for supplies for the Creepslayerz.

   He grabbed his usual clothes from the closet, green t-shirt, brown cargo shorts, undergarments, etc, entered the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Eli quickly stripped out of his clothes and went to enter the shower but stopped upon seeing his reflection in the mirror and burst out laughing. Dang he had bad bed head! It looked like he had just climbed out of a tomb or something with parts of his hair sticking up and everywhere and other parts plastered to his face with sweat. Once his laughter had died down he took off his glasses and placed them on the counter before taking a quick shower, singing as he did so.

   Fact: Elijah Leslie Pepperjack sings in the shower. Fact: He’s actually a pretty decent singer.

   Less than a half hour later he was dressed, fed, and on his way to school. Before becoming a Creepslayer he would have his mom drive him but now he enjoyed walking to most places. Besides if he ever got tired of walking he always had his heelies in his backpack, without his mother knowing of course. She thought that wearing those were dangerous? Eli was fairly certain that hunting creeps of the night was far more dangerous in comparison. So yeah, if he was helping to protect Arcadia, the least he deserved was getting to wear his damn heelies.

   Eli hummed a bit as he walked, buzzing with (barely) tamed energy. He was finally going to get some answers! After so long not knowing, scraping up whatever explanations he could, countless hours connecting strings on a billboard, Eli was finally going to know just what was going on in Arcadia! And not only that, he was also going to know exactly who and what they were dealing with and how to fight against it. Something told him that it was going to be a fantastic day.

   “Hey Pepperjack!!” A voice shouted at him. A full minute in school without being called out, new record.

    Eli turned toward the sound of his voice just in time to see those jocks that Steve often hung out with coming his way. He knew these guys all too well, had known them even longer than Steve had known them, knew their taunts, knew their shoves. Eli looked down to the side, not daring to look them in the eye.

   Odd isn’t it?

   How he could face goo monsters, goblins and creepers but still couldn’t find the guts to stand up to his daily tormenters. At least creepers, goblins and goo monsters had a reason for why they did things: instinct. Those beasts did it to feed, to survive in the surface world, to form territories. What did theses brutes have to gain? Nothing, well nothing besides the amusement they seemed to gain from tormenting him. Nothing besides the way they got to laugh and look down at him. Absolutely nothing other than that feeling of superiority they held over him.

   “Hey are you listening freak?” One of them snarled, placing both hands flat on Eli’s chest and pushing him back. At least Eli got to see a result of his training just then, before a push like that would have left him sprawled on the pavement, now it just sent him stumbling back a bit before he regained his footing.

      On the bright side there were only three guys.

   “S-sorry,” Eli stammered, holding his hands in front of him in ‘please leave me alone’ pose as he backed up a few steps, putting some distance between him and the brunet (the one who had shoved him) “I uh-”

   “We’ll say it one more time since you were too busy in la-la land to pay attention.” The second one said, this one a darker skinned boy, jabbing a finger at Eli’s chest, making him flinch a bit.

   “Stay away from Steve; we don’t need you contaminating him with your weirdness. I thought we made it _quite_ clear last time.” The last one finished, this one with hair a shade of blonde lighter than Steve’s.

   Eli froze, taking another step back unconsciously. “L-look, I don’t know wh-what you’re getting at but-”

   “Don’t play stupid! Steve was yelling about monsters that day and then he goes to you, the local expert of freaks!” The brunet, whose name was Will, snapped.

   “Th-that had been a while ago why-” he began, only to be cut off again.

   “Because someone just told us that they saw you riding with Steve on his Vespa on Saturday!” The blonde, Jack, cut in. “Why you getting so cozy with him?!”

   “That was-” He stopped at that moment because lo and behold, Steve was right there watching him from the lockers, speak of the devil. Eli opened his mouth, almost called out to him but another harsh shove killed the sound in his throat and brought his attention back to the bullies as he nearly fell down.

   “Answer us Pepper-freak!” The darker boy, this one named David, sneered as they crowded around him, pressing closer to him, trapping him.

    Eli’s mouth opened and closed, no sound coming out, eyes wide in fear as he looked back to where Steve was, pleaded at him with his eyes ‘Help me, please!’ ‘Make them stop!’ Steve shook his head a fraction and Eli watched as the other closed his locker, turned his back on him and walked off without so much as a backwards glance.

  ‘Why?’ Eli asked himself, looking down and not looking at the jocks anymore, not wanting them to see the way his eyes had gotten misty all of a sudden.

   “C-come on guys, do you honestly think Steve would h-hang out with me, much less even be seen with me?” He said, each word feeling like sandpaper in his throat. “He wouldn’t be caught dead with me. So if he was with someone last night it wasn’t me. Cozy? Please, as if he would even _consider_ being friends with me.”

   “Hey what’s going on?!” A new voice called, this one belonging to one Jim Lake.

   Eli dared to look up and felt relief wash over him like warm sunlight when he saw Jim, Claire and Toby rushing over to him. ‘Thank you.’ He mouthed to them, still trapped between the bullies.

   “Just having a nice little chat with Pepperjack over here.” Will  replied, smiling in a way that reminded Eli of a shark before clapping a hand on his shoulder, making him jump.

   “And what kind of talk requires you to have him boxed in between you guys?” Claire asked, gesturing to the scene before her.

   “Oh Eli’s been having hearing problems lately, but I’m sure that he’ll be able to _listen_ now. We don’t want another miscommunication do we?” Will said and Eli shook his head in response.

   There was a short lived staring contest between the jocks and the Trollhunters, each side daring the other to make the first move, each look clearly saying ‘come at me and see what happens’ before the brunet (who was probably the leader of that little group) smiled once more before turning and leaving, the other two following him like a shadow.

   “Hey you okay there Eli?” Jim asked.

   “Fine.” He replied, still looking at the ground, almost as if should he take his eyes off it then it would crumble underneath him.

   “What’d they do to you?” Jim asked, in that voice he used to use when defending him from Steve.

   “Nothing,” Eli said a bit too quickly, he took a deep breath and pushed up his glasses which had slipped down a tad. “Just…talked.”

   “Eli, I saw Steve leave-” Claire began before he cut him off.

   “We’re meeting at lunch.” Eli informed them before walking past them, fists tight at his sides as he tried to keep from shaking, not even bothering to leave some of his stuff in his locker.

   Why? Why could they help him but his own teammate couldn’t? Yes, Eli was friends with Jim and the others but still. He thought that he and Steve had something a bit deeper, they had worked together to save each other’s lives after all, they had gone on a whole crazy plot to kill Jim, they had stolen and trashed his mom’s car. Didn’t that count for anything? But when push came to shove (shove being quite literal), whenever it was something that threatened their oh so precious ‘cover’ then Steve was never there. Did they even need their cover anymore?! They had only kept it in the first place to keep Jim from becoming suspicious so did they even need it anymore?

   Eli grit his teeth as he continued to storm through the hallway to get to his first class. Then again Steve couldn’t exactly let his dear friends know that he hung out with a freak like him right? Oh perish the thought. Steve would never do anything that would put his perfectly sculpted reputation at risk, and certainly not for Eli.

   He and Steve had switched seats a while back to allow them to sit next to each other so they could exchange notes and plans, plus sometimes Eli would explain work to him. Eli looked at the empty seats (Steve hadn’t arrived to the classroom yet) and instead sat in the opposite side of the classroom, the seats next to him already filled with other classmates. He took out his notebook and a pencil, impatiently drumming the pencil on the spiral of the book as he waited for class to start.

   Steve strolled into class exactly when the bell rang and paused momentarily when he didn’t see the other half of the Creepslayerz in his usual seat; he located Eli a second after that on the other side of the classroom. Eli held his gaze for half a second before purposely looking away. Steve frowned a touch and went to his usual seat, looking at the other for a moment before taking out his notebook as well and copying today’s lesson.

   About a half hour into the class Eli’s phone buzzed with text and he inconspicuously took out his phone to read it, scowling as soon as he saw who it was.

   From Creepslayerz First Half: ‘ _U okay?’_

 _‘Peachy’_ He replied, willing himself to not smash out the letters.

   _‘You don’t look like it.’_

   He didn’t bother replying.

   ‘ _Look I’m sorry that I couldn’t help you this morning.’_ Steve continued.

   ‘ _Okay, then say so.’_

_‘Huh?’_

_‘Say you’re sorry right now if you are.’_ Eli sent that and turned his phone off, making sure Steve could see him do so. But not before he read the next text that the other sent.

_‘You know I can’t do that.’_

   ‘Of course you fucking can’t.’ He thought as he shoved the phone into his bookbag with a grimace. ‘No you can’t even stop your _friends_ from shoving me around, how dare I expect you to apologize for it.’

   Eli closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, counted to ten and let it out slowly before reopening his eyes and staring down at his notebook. He knew that he shouldn’t be angry-well not _as_ angry as he was with Steve but he couldn’t help it. Seriously, the man could save him from monsters of the night but not from his everyday ones? Eli knew not to kid himself, what he had said to the bullies had been true in a way. Steve wouldn’t even _consider_ being friends with him. This whole partnership thing was a…convenience. Yes a convenience, nothing more. Steve had needed brains and an expert in the supernatural, Eli had needed muscles and protection.

   Yeah…just a convenience.

   It’s not as if Eli sort of admired Steve in some odd way. It was strictly for convenience.

 

 

   After a million and one years (a couple of hours) it was lunch time; the time where he and Steve had planned to talk to Jim and the others the previous day. He hadn’t allowed himself to look at the other during the morning classes although Eli had felt eyes on him every once in a while. Even Jim, Claire and Toby had looked his way every once in a while. He picked up his lunch tray which consisted of some cardboard with red sauce and cheese (pizza), some orange mush that might be peaches and a carton of milk. Eli looked over the lunchroom trying to spot the others before seeing them on a table in the very corner, pretty secluded. Perfect.

   Jim, Claire and Toby appeared to be deep in conversation, a worried expression on each of their faces. Eli hesitated momentarily; they didn’t need him bothering them right now. Who was he kidding, asking questions, sitting at their table, acting like he was part of the gang? He sighed and turned around, trying to find another table.

   “Hey Eli!” Toby called, making said person jump and turn back around. “Come on! We saved you a seat!”

  “O-okay…” He stammered, walking to the table with a slightly nervous smile.

   They really had saved him a seat; Claire and Jim sat on one side and Toby sat alone on the other, gesturing to the seat next to him. Eli smiled a bit brighter and took the seat, eating a bit before Jim cleared his throat and spoke.

   “So you said that we had to meet?”

    “Yeah, I-I wanted to ask you some questions about um the uh the _creepers_ ” Eli said, whispering the final word as if it were taboo.

   “Aw yeah that’s cool.” Toby said with a nod. “Anything to stop talking about the pale-”

  There was a loud thump followed by an “Ow!” from Toby, indicating that Jim or Claire (or both) had kicked him from underneath the table.  

   “I mean uh anything to stop talking about how pale my face is! Yeah, I really need to get some sun!” Toby said with a nervous laugh at the end.

  Eli of course knew that that statement was complete and utter bogus but he didn’t pry into that subject, not when he was about to pry into others.

   “Alright so what questions do you have?” Jim questioned.

   ‘Where do I start?’ Eli thought, practically bouncing in his seat. “Um well-” he was cut off by a tray being dropped onto the table and Steve squeezing into the bench next him.

  “Move over Dumb-zalski!” Steve ordered, accidently elbowing Eli in the ribs a few time as he tried to fit on the bench.

   “You know you _could_ sit on the other side with Jim and Claire, or you know, in a different table all together.” Toby pointed out even though he was moving over to accommodate for Steve. Due to Eli’s small size they were all able to fit on the bench, a tad snug but still.

   “Steve what are you even doing here?” Claire asked in exasperation.

   “In case you’ve forgotten Nuñez, me and Eli are part of a super awesome team called the Creepslayerz and we had planned to ask you these questions as teammates.”

   Claire scoffed “Last time I checked I don’t leave my teammates at the hands of bullies just because I have an ‘image’ to keep.”

   Steve opened his mouth to say something, decided against it and snapped his mouth shut, looking away with a tight lipped frown. There were a few minutes of silence that reminded Eli of this morning when Jim and the other’s had been staring down the jocks and he fidgeted slightly in his seat.

   “So you were going to ask a question Eli?” Jim finally said, breaking the silence.

   “Right. How?” Eli asked, still not bothering to look at the other half of the Creepslayerz lest his face betray him.

   “How what?” Jim questioned.

   “How…this?” Eli elaborated, gesturing to Jim and then all of them. “How does that watch work and how did you even get it? How did Toby and Claire get involved, just…how?”

   “Well it’s sort of complicated,” Toby cut in. “Basically me and Jimbo were taking a short cut through the canals like we always do and that watch was in the remains of a dead Trollhunter.”

   Eli visibly paled. “R-remains?”

   “No, no, no not like that!” Jim reassured. “Remember how Trolls die in sunlight? Well sun turns them to stone and the old Trollhunter had been killed by Bular and shattered on the ground after turning to stone.”

   “That doesn’t sound any better-” Eli began before being cut off by Steve.

   “Wait the Trollhunter before you was a troll? Isn’t that a bit ironic to say the least?”

   “I’m the first human Trollhunter, the title ‘Trollhunter’ doesn’t exactly mean a hunter of Troll, we’re just the ones chosen to defend Troll Market-the trolls.” Jim corrected, since Troll Market was where Gunmar was currently residing.

   “Chosen?” Steve asked, quirking an eyebrow and crossing his arms in a ‘yeah right’ sort of way.

   “Yes Steve chosen, I assume you know what that means.” Claire said with an eye roll.

   “Yeah but Lake? Chosen for something? Especially something like hunting monsters?” Steve said sceptically.

   “That’s what I said at first too.” Jim agreed with a shrug. “But I was able to do it, thanks to my friends.”

   “Yeah…” Eli said almost to himself before speaking up. “What about the trolls? Explain those.”

   For almost a half hour Eli was asking questions while Jim, Toby and Claire did their best to answer, Steve stayed quiet for the most part except for the quips he made every so often. However it was obvious that none of the Trollhunters team knew how to fully explain Eli’s questions, but he would take what he could get.

   “Geez you’ve been thinking about these questions for a while haven’t you?” Toby asked although the answer was obvious.

   Eli nodded excitedly, beaming brightly. “Yeah, I made this whole billboard in my room and everything, trying to connect the dots. I can’t believe that I never suspected you; it’s just that I couldn’t imagine you having any secrets or something.”

   “Hey Jim I have a question too.” Steve said.

   “If it’s something like asking if I can use the bathroom in my suit then I’m gunna stop you right there.” Jim replied.

   “Oh no nothing like that. I was just wondering if you would ever be angry at Toby or Claire for doing something _necessary_ to keep your cover as a team.”

   Eli grit his teeth, he had been ready to forgive the dumbass after lunch before he had said that. So leaving him was ‘necessary’? That’s how he chose to write it off as?

   “Uh, I’m not sure I understand the question.” Jim said doubtfully.

   “Considering that they openly hang out with each other and the only things they ‘hide’ is the actually work they do I imagine that the answer would be no.” Eli muttered just loud enough to be heard. “What’s more is that Claire used to not hang out with them but I imagine that as soon as she became a part of the team is when she started accompanying them and being friends with them.”

   “That’s pretty much how it went down.” Claire agreed, knowing what Eli was really trying to say with that.

   “But _Claire_ didn’t have to worry about being seen as a freak by her other friends.” Steve said, obviously agitated.

   “She still hung out with her other friends and if her other friends think of her as a freak,” Eli turned to Steve, green eyes boring into brown. “then they’re not very good friends.”

   “Okay,” The table rattled when Steve’s palm hit it, making Eli jump but his gaze didn’t wavier “Why the hell are you angry with me?”

   “Why not?” Eli snapped.

   “If this is about this morning-”

   “You left me Steve! With them! Your ‘friends’, leaving them to do whatever they wanted!”

   “I’m here now!” He argued.

   “Because we’re in a corner of the cafeteria that’s practically invisible! Would you have come if we were sitting in the middle of the lunchroom?!”

   “Why are you angry?!” Steve asked once more instead of answering. “You’ve never gotten angry with me before!”

  “Because I wasn’t allowed to be! I was afraid that you would kick the crap out of me if I did, Steve! But this is _not_ the first time I’ve been angry with you, Steve Palchuk!” Eli shouted.

   “Both you cool it!” Jim yelled, hitting his palm against the table as Steve had done before, silencing the two.

    There was a moment of tense silence, the clamour of the lunchroom being the only noise as the Creepslayerz glared at each other, Eli’s breath coming out in pants as he trembled slightly. Steve looked away first, crossing his arms. Eli looked down at the floor, still shaking.

   “Good,” Jim exhaled. “Okay…” he thought for a moment. “Here’s my idea, so hear me out, both of you.”

   Steve gave a small huff to show that he was listening and Eli nodded.

   “Both of you want to help us protect Arcadia and that’s great! But this enemy we have, Gunmar, neither of you are going to stand a chance against him with the teamwork that you’re showing.”

   “And your point is?” Steve asked.

   “ _Obviously_ you guys are going to have to work on that. You have an…interesting history and some things you need to get out. So, here’s my idea: for a week you and Eli will go after school to where the Trolls are staying for a few hours. That will give you a chance to fix whatever this is,” he said gesturing to the both of them. “Train, and on top of that it’ll give you,” he looked to Eli at this part. “A chance to ask whatever questions you may have to either Blinky or any of the other Trolls.”

   “Uh do you really think that that’s the best idea Jimbo?” Toby asked.

   “It worked with me, Nomura, Draal and Vendel, I’m telling you, some bonding time goes a long way.” Jim assured.

   “Um who are those people?” Eli questioned.

   “Draal is a close friend of mine, Vendel was too and Nomura…” Jim began

   “Nomura’s a bloodthirsty changeling who had a change of heart.” Claire finished.

   “What’s a changeling?” Steve asked.

   “It’s a creature, the child of a fairy that was left in place of a human child that had been stolen by fairies. At least that’s what the legend says.” Eli replied, answering more out of habit than anything.

   “That’s pretty close to what they are but no. And are you going to finish that?” Toby asked, gesturing to Eli’s unfinished pizza.

  “You can have it.” Eli said, passing the tray over to him. “So what are they exactly?”

   “Trolls that can take the form of a human; they steal human babies to steal their forms. They’re immune to sunlight and appear like a human in every single way, but they’ll show their Troll form if you touch them with a gaggletack.” Jim explained.

   “Gaggletack?” Eli asked, obviously confused, head already swimming with new information.

   “An iron horseshoe.” Claire clarified.

   “So you’re saying that anyone in Arcadia could be a changeling?” Steve questioned.

   “Oh there were already changelings in Arcadia; one was even in this school.” Toby answered, nonchalantly sipping his milk.

   “What?!” Eli squeaked. “H-here?!”

   “Don’t worry they’re already gone.” Jim said.

   “Who were they?” Steve asked.

   “Who has left this school recently?” Claire replied.

   “…Mr. Strickler?” Eli said after a moment, not believing it. “He was-but we- he was our teacher! And wasn’t Ms. Nomura a museum curator?!”

   “Yes and he along with Nomura have tried to kill me on numerous occasions, moving on.” Jim said, waving off the subject. “Back to the main point, you and Steve are going to go after school to where the Trolls are, I’ll text you the location later, and starting today you’re going to be training. Next Monday you’ll tell us whether or not you want to continue with this. Okay?”

   “Why can’t you be there?” Steve argued.

   “I have to do my own training with Strickler and we need…information from him and Nomura.” Jim explained. “So do you agree or not?”

“Y-yeah.” Eli agreed. Oh he was still angry with Steve but having answers dangling right in front of him…and getting to meet the Trolls on top of that?! A week was a small price to pay.

(After school in the mountains)

   “T-this is the way he said to go isn’t it?” Eli asked for the hundredth time since they had first started walking along the rocky mountainside.

   Jim’s text had said that the Trolls were now in the caves of Arcadia, near the middle of the small mountain range. While it was called a mountain range they were probably the smallest mountains in the world. But the caverns that littered them were deep and vast; the perfect hiding place. Also a fairly spooky one what with the dark woods surrounding them and each noise making Eli jump out of his skin.

   “Pretty sure. He said that there was a little tell somewhere along- that must be it.” Steve said, swiftly walking to a tree with bright yellow spray paint on it.

 _Keep it Crispy._ _J_ Except the ‘y’ at the end was upside down.

  “It’s an arrow.” Eli pointed out before rushing to where it pointed to.

   Steve quickly caught up with him; if the terrain wasn’t so rocky they could have taken the Vespa but they had had to abandon it on the side of the road before coming up here. Steve had hidden it behind a tree beforehand of course. “Does your mom even know you’re out here?” A stupid question.

  “She works late.” Eli replied, not breaking his stride even though he was already sweating bullets from the walk thus far, Steve was only slightly better off than him.

   “Right…so uh any idea what we should expect?”

   “Trolls.”

   “Right, obviously.” Steve said with a nod, letting the silence linger for a bit. “Look, how long-”

   Of course that’s when a large rock that Eli hadn’t seen decided to trip him and make him pitch forward, hands already shooting out in front of him to catch himself.  However Steve was faster and catches him with an arm around the waist, righting him.

  “Are you okay?” Steve asked him, his breath ghosting over his ear and causing Eli to squirm a bit, goosebumps erupting on his neck.

   “Fine…thank you.” He said, freeing himself from the other’s grasp.

   “Eli-”

   “Sorry, that spot is a bit slippery!” A voice called from the mouth of a cavern right in front of them that they somehow hadn’t noticed, cutting Steve off. “We’ve been expecting you. I would go out to greet you myself but I don’t think either of you are quite fond of the idea of shaking hands with a statue.” The voice continued.

   “Who…are you?” Eli asked, adjusting his glasses. He could make out two figures from the darkness of the cave, one around the height of a human but wider and more…square like? The other seeming to belong to a colossal beast.

   “Ah, my apologies, my name is Blinkous Galadrigal, Blinky for short and this is my companion Aarghaumont otherwise known as Aargh. Master Jim has instructed us to be your trainers. But before that, do either of you have any homework that needs to be taken care of?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahahahahahahaha! Why am i laughing? Cause apparently y'all think that this is going to be a fluffy sweet fanfic! Come on you guys, you think that Steve and Eli are just going to be the Creepslayerz and that's it? Fuck no, they got some shit to work through and guess who's gunna make em work through it? That's right, this bad bitch (me) XD Eli's workout thing is fuckin realistic, fight me. I used to do that fuckin schedule. (*pokes stomach* Used to... XD)  
> Jim, Claire and Toby don't appear that much in this fic,sorry, while Eli and Steve are learning from Blinky they'll be learning from Strickler and Nomura, and learning of the Pale Lady. That's what they had been talking about before Eli appeared by the way, not Toby's super pale complexion. While in the show it's more likely that Claire will hide that dream(vision?) of the pale lady, I would like for her to actually tell Toby and Jim here. No secrets now right? So yeah.  
> Jim is a bloody genius, yes Jim, send two pissed off people into the woods to fuckin bond. Great idea! What in the actual fuck Jim, people work out differences differently then Trolls.  
> And yes the Trolls are staying in this cool ass mountain range, my logic is genius damnit. It's underground like Trolls Market was, no sunlight once again like Trolls market but don't worry it's not pitch black, plus who's going to go into spooky ass caves? Besides the two dumbasses I mean. (Why am I criticizing my own writing? XD) And the idea of the sign being on a tree is genius too! No matter how stupid this whole thing seems! If you haven't noticed by now, I leave long ass comments in which I curse. Like a lot.


	3. Don't Run Into Dark, Scary Caves Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We have great teamwork; Jim’s the one who said otherwise. Me? I’m here to train to fight Gunmar. You’re just here to get answers, and don’t even deny that.”  
> “That’s not the only reason I’m here.” He denied anyway.  
> “Keep telling yourself that.” Steve muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *eye of the tiger starts playing* Guess what that means? That's right! Training time! But wait...Blinky's only trained Trollhunters before so how will this turn out? And will Steve ever stop being a bitch? (Jk, I love my babe)

   “You’ve been expecting us?” Steve repeated, quirking an eyebrow as they walked through the dark cave, dimly lit by the flashlights Eli and he had smartly brought along with them. He was walking in front of the group.

   “Yes of course, Master Jim had told us to expect you two. He called us on the mobile cellular device.” He explained, holding up a flip phone that more than likely Jim had given him. “You two are Steve Palchuk and Elijah Pepperjack are you not? Cause if you aren’t…” he let the unnamed threat hang there.

   “No, no we are, we are!” Eli said quickly. “We met briefly last night remember?” He reminded, fixing his glasses once more, his eyes trying to get used to the darkness. He vaguely remembered seeing the Troll with six eyes, but he did recall that this one, Blinky, was now in charge.

   “Ah right! You’re the ones who brought those yellow sun shielders to us! How could I forget? You must forgive me; it’s just that all you humans look alike.” Blinky apologized.

   “No hard feelings?” Eli said uncertainly, marvelling in the way that their voices echoed in the large space.

   “So how much farther is it?” Steve asked.

   He got his answer a second later when all of a sudden there was a drop. He was weightless for a moment, like an astronaut in space before gravity made herself known once more, sending him spiralling down the hole. In the back of his mind he was making some snarky remark as to how he now knew how Alice felt but the thought was drowned out by his shout of surprise.

  “Steve!” Eli yelled after him, somewhere from the surface as said person was sliding down the caverns on smooth rock that reminded him of one of those tube slides. His flashlight had slipped from his grip and was a bit ways above him, spinning as it slid along with him and giving him little flashes of the twists and turns ahead. In other situation he might have enjoyed the ride but right now he definitely wasn’t.

   Finally he reached the end of the tunnel, landing on his back and knocking the wind out of his lungs. Steve lay there for a moment, trying to regain his breath and trying to figure out what was had just happened.

   “Well hello there fleshbag.” A troll with purple lips said, leaning over him and giving him a grin that revealed pointed shark-like teeth (Bagdwella). “Are you lost?”

   “Oh god!” he shouted sitting up quickly and moving back, not assessing the screaming coming from the tunnel behind him.

   “Look out belooooow!!” Eli shrieked two seconds before crashing into Steve, sending the two flying back like a human bowling ball, stopping a few feet away. Steve groaned and sat up once more, Eli sprawled over him like a blanket.

   “A-are you okay?!” Eli asked worriedly, sitting up and looking over the other for any injuries

   “I’m fine buttsnack.” Steve said with an exasperated sigh. “Don’tcha think that you could have given me a better warning?”

   “A-ah, right…sorry.” Eli replied, fixing his lopsided glasses that by some miracle had not flown off his face completely. He ducked his head and tried to stifle his laughter to no avail.

  “What’s so funny?”

   “That was fun.” He giggled, looking at the other with a bright smile.

    “I guess so.” Steve mumbled, returning the smile with a small one of his own, face a slight pink.

   “Ah sorry, I suppose that I should have warned you about that drop.” Blinky apologized, sprinting over to them, well as fast to a sprint that he could manage with his short legs.

   “Yes you should have!” Bagdwella chided. “You know how fragile these fleshbags are **,** they could have broken something! Even if the bigger one yelled at me.”

   “Sorry ma’am, you startled me.” Steve explained, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

  “It’s alright love; try to not let it happen again.” Bagdwella replied, twirling her umbrella which she seemed to have become quite fond of and strolled off.

  “Oh wow…”Eli breathed, clambering off Steve and standing up, taking in the sight. They were deep in the cave, stalagmites and stalactites littering the roof and floor but also with torches that had been set up along the walls, lighting up the place and the gems and crystals adorning the walls, glistening in the light. What’s more is that there were some tents set up all over for the Trolls to reside in. “It’s gorgeous.”

  “Not home.” Aargh rumbled, speaking for the first time since entering the cave.

  “I know, but it will look much better once we clean it up, and we have those crystals that some of the others and I managed to smuggle here.” Blinky reassured, patting Aargh’s broad arm.

   “Right, Jim explained that Troll Market is where you guys used to live…what was that like? If you don’t mind telling me that is, mister Blinky.” Eli said, fidgeting in place a bit.

   Blinky sighed. “It…it’s a place that is nothing short of wondrous, full of great crystals that one could only dream of, our very own heartstone the size of this cavern from bottom to top. It’s the safest and warmest place imaginable…it’s home.

  “I’m sorry that you had to lose it.” Steve apologized, he had already gotten up and was now standing next to Eli with his hands in his pockets. “We wish that we could have seen it.”

   “With any luck you still might.” Blinky said with a sense of certainty, before shaking his head a bit and clearing his thoughts. “Anyway, while we’re still not quite set up here the training is going to commence anyway.”

  “What’s our training going to be?” Steve asked.

   “Fighting Aargh.” Blinky answered with a smile.

 

    Both Steve and Eli had assumed that Blinky had been joking. Apparently not. While the rest of the place was still ‘under construction’ as Blinky had called it, they had managed to clear out a large place in another section of the cavern that resided next to the main opening where the Trolls had set up base; this section functioned as a second room almost, and was perfect for a training space. It was a large circle with a ring of various earth toned stones surrounding it, sort of marking a boundary, there were various holes and openings in the ceiling working almost like a spotlight and lighting the place up. Eli took everything in in a state of awe but also analysing the whole thing.

   So how would this work? Fighting Aargh? What was the goal? To fight him or to try and force him out of the ring? Maybe they would also be given the option of tagging him with something somehow. His mind raced, evaluating everything at once so it was perfectly understandable that he didn’t hear Steve calling him the first time.

   “Hey, Earth to Pepperjack!” Steve called for about the fifth time, this time grabbing the other’s shoulder and shaking him a bit.

  “Huh, what?” Eli asked confused, coming back to reality.

  “Finally!” Steve said in an irritated tone. “What I was _trying_ to tell you was that if you’re trying to think up some plan then forget it. I’m going to take him down single handily.” He ordered, shouldering a bat that he had somehow fit into the backpack that he had had taken with him. He also had on his roller skates for more mobility.

   “The whole point of this is to work on our _teamwork,_ Steve.” Eli reminded, a touch of annoyance also flooding into his voice. He had changed into his Creepslayerz outfit which he had brought along with him, even the helmet and the face paint. He didn’t exactly have a weapon per say. He did however have his heelies **.** That and a yo-yo, although he didn’t remember putting that in his backpack.

   “We have great teamwork; Jim’s the one who said otherwise. Me? I’m here to train to fight Gunmar. You’re just here to get answers, and don’t even deny that.”

   “That’s not the only reason I’m here.” He denied anyway.

   “Keep telling yourself that.” Steve muttered.

   Of course Blinky chose that moment to stop talking to Aargh and go back over to them. “I spoke with Aargh and while he is a pacifist he also does not want to risk you two being unprepared upon our facing with Gunmar so he has agreed to help with the training, this is just to see how your skills are, to view what your strengths and weaknesses are and in turn how to work on those. You have three options, force him out of the ring, beat him in combat or have one of you escape the ring, it does not count if you are knocked out of the ring by Aargh.”

   “The rules sound simple…” Eli said slowly, pondering the options and feeling as if there was something more to it. “But um why are they here?” He asked meekly, pointing to the Trolls that had gathered around the small arena.”

   “This is the only source of entertainment thus far.” Blinky replied in a very blunt manner.

   “Right.” Steve deadpanned before patting Eli on the back. “Well let’s give them a good show.” He said before steeping into the arena where Aargh already was waiting.

   “Steve, wait!” Eli called after him, jogging to catch up to the other. “Shouldn’t we make some sort of plan, a-a strategy of some sort?!”

   “Don’t need it.” Steve answered, not even looking back at him.

   “Steve, come on!”

   “Let the training commence!” Blinky announced, leading to the audience that had gathered to cheer.

   “No wait!” Eli shouted, eyes wide but his voice was drowned out by the crowd.

   Now Aargh had looked nice, had being the keyword. As soon as Blinky had said that they were starting his demeanour had changed completely (although Eli didn’t know that Aargh wasn’t even in the form where he allowed his power to overcome him, he was still there, no black-purple eyes separating him from reality).

   “Let’s go!” Steve shouted, immediately charging at him with no thinking whatsoever. Eli had known that the other was definitely going to go for the second option, being the show-off that he is but it still surprised him how…how utterly stupid Steve was being.

  But perhaps Eli could use that stupidity. Beating Aargh in combat wasn’t the only option after all, one of them just had to leave the arena. He stamped his shoes against the ground, releasing the wheels and turned around, skating toward the outside of the circle.

   “Eli look out!” Steve yelled from somewhere behind him.

At least that had been the plan until something collided into his back, propelling him out and making him crash into the audience. “Sorry, sorry!” He quickly apologized before getting up and looking back to see what had happened. As he had suspected Aargh had been the one to kick him out of the ring so it didn’t count. Aargh also currently had Steve pinned down with one hand, not crushing him but not exactly letting him get free from his grip either.

   Letting out a growl of frustration Eli skated back into the arena, not yet getting close to his opponent as he tried to work out a plan. ‘Should I try skating out again? Or try to distract Aargh so Steve could be the one to escape? I doubt that Steve would run away so easily. I certainly can’t try to fight Aargh. Kicking him out of the ring seems even more unlikely to happen. What if-’

   His train of thought derailed as he was pushed out of the arena yet again, his own planning distracting him from the one that he was supposed to be fighting. Eli rolled a few times before coming to a stop directly outside of the ring.

   “Fuck.” Eli swore under his breath, something that he rarely did but the circumstances certainly allowed the slip of tongue. Touching his cheek to make sure that black face paint was the only thing running down his face. Seriously, he had to stop putting that on, sweat plus makeup equals wreck.

   He got back up, a bit more shakily than last time. Aargh wasn’t trying to do any real damage to either of them, although Steve’s ego had probably suffered a few blows. Despite everything the thought made Eli’s lips quirk into a smile, even as the audience jeered, even as Aargh obviously had the upper hand, even as Steve still was trying to get out from under that massive hand, he had to smile.

   Eli’s eyes widened as he got a plan. It was a horrible plan but it was the only one he had. He put a hand in his pocket, feeling around for what he needed, took a deep breath and then charged at Aargh just as Steve had done before.

   The giant Troll looked surprised for a moment but it was short lived as he braced for Eli’s attack whatever it might be. Once he was in range Aargh reached out to grab him and pin him just as he had done to Steve.

   “Eli, look out!” Steve shouted from underneath Aargh’s grip.

   He didn’t need the warning, Eli saw it coming and ducked, pulling out the yoyo and wrapping it around Aargh’s free arm, and sliding between the other’s legs, coming out the other side, his lithe form making the whole procedure easy.

   As planned Aargh let go of Steve to pull the string off and Steve used that moment to scramble to his feet, pulling the bat back to strike at the large Troll.

   Eli dropped the yoyo and instead grabbed the end of the bat causing Steve to look at him confusedly. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked.

   “Trust me?” Eli asked with a smile and a wink before turning his whole body and swinging his end of the bat as hard as he could. The movement propelling Steve like a slingshot. Of course if Steve hadn’t been wearing his roller skates then that would have been impossible to accomplish.

   Aargh, realizing what had just happened, raced after Steve, reaching out to grab him but Eli grabbed the end of the yoyo once more, not enough to stop him or even slow him down but the tug on his wrist made Aargh turn around just as Eli propelled into his back, more on accident than anything. But Aargh had looked back.

   Just long enough for Steve to reach the outside of the ring.

   There was a moment of silence, the audience stopped jeering and cheering, it was quiet enough to hear Eli’s muffled ‘ow’ from behind Aargh before the stillness was shattered by Blinky declaring “Steve escaped the ring! Match over!” And then the crowd was in uproar, cheering and clapping.

   “You alright?” Aargh asked, trying to turn around to see Eli.

   “I’m alright.” He replied with a bright smile, peeling himself off of the gentle giant’s back just in time to see his teammate storming over to him. Well that was never a good sign.

   “What the hell Pepperjack?!” he accused, throwing his hands up in the air.

   “We won.” Eli said, nervous but determined not to show it.

   “No, we ran away. Correction, _you_ ran away. You may have used the bat to send my flying like a bat out of hell but _you_ were the one who ran away.” Steve chided.

   “It was the only option that would have worked; we couldn’t beat him head on, we couldn’t push him out of the ring, one of us escaping the ring was the only option.” Eli explained, trying to keep his composure, even as he fidgeted in place as Steve picked him apart in front of the very crowd that was cheering for them, in front of Blinky and Aargh who had promised to help them work on their teamwork.

   “ _You_ couldn’t have done it,” Steve argued, poking the other’s chest just like the bullies had done earlier that morning, accentuating the word ‘you’ “Don’t say we couldn’t have, because I could have. Did you really have to get involved, honestly-”

  “Did it _ever_ cross your mind that _maybe_ ; just maybe I’m trying to be your equal and not just the weakling that can’t do anything except pick up a book.” Eli said, looking at the ground as he spoke and pretending that his voice didn’t have an angry tremble to it. “Can you just **_pretend_** that you actually want to work on our teamwork and that you’re not just doing this to get better at fighting so you can break off any connection with me?”

   He didn’t give the other a chance to answer before walking away so quickly that it could have been labelled as a sprint, ignoring Blinky calling after him.

 

   “I’m officially an idiot.” Eli muttered to himself. He had absolutely no idea where he was. He had just kept walking aimlessly, desperate to put some space between him and his supposed teammate and had somehow ended up in a crystal cavern of sorts. At any other moment he would have been star struck and naming all the different sorts of minerals and gems around him but now he was just sitting on the cave floor, knees drawn up to his chest.

   How many times had he run away today? How many times was he going to keep running away? Eli sighed, and curled in a bit more on himself, the damp air making him cold as the adrenaline left his body. He heard footsteps and looked at how was approaching out of the corner of his eye.

   Mister Blinky.

   Eli let out a little huff and turned away, already bracing for the reprimanding that he was sure to get for leaving like that. Although who could blame him? Eli had a ‘only get pushed around once a day rule’ after all. Okay he didn’t but he was seriously thinking about invoking one. Maybe that would help. As if.

   Blinky wordlessly walked up to him and sat down beside him, waiting a moment before speaking. “The three different options of the match each had a different meaning and purpose.” Blinky began to explain.

  “Huh?” Eli asked, looking at him confused. So the whole thing had had a hidden meaning after all?

   “Forcing Aargh out of the ring would have shown if you two would have been able to coordinate yourselves in such a way that would make that possible. Beating him in combat would have shown your strengths as well as weaknesses. Leaving the ring would have shown that you both would recognize when an opponent was too great for you to handle and when it was time to go get further assistance. However…”

   “However?” Eli prodded.

   “Whatever choice you decided to make it was one that had to be agreed with by both parts. You tried making a plan and that was fantastic but you overthought your movements for a while there, you doubted yourself and overthought while Steve didn’t think at all and rushed in. In actual combat there won’t be much time to plan but it’s crucial to have some idea of what to do. What’s more is that the option of leaving the ring had a hidden part to it. Care to guess what that was?”

   “Um…” Eli thought for a moment before smacking himself on the forehead, ashamed at how he didn’t figure it out before. “You wanted to see if we would abandon each other.”

   “Precisely.”

   “And I ended up doing that.” He groaned.

   “Not exactly, at first you did yes but then it was due to Steve’s immobility and you ended up freeing him, even if you ‘sacrificed’ yourself to do so.” He corrected, giving Eli a smile.

   “S-so we did good?”

   “Oh heaven’s no, that was some of the worst teamwork that I have ever seen!” Blinky said with a laugh.

   “Oh.”

   “Listen Young Eli, both you and Sir Steve have your strengths as well as weaknesses but you need to work on teamwork.”

   “Everyone keeps saying that but Steve won’t cooperate! The first time we teamed up was great, better than great but Steve,” Eli sighed. “it just feels like he cares more about his image than me-than the team, he keeps pulling away, I mean when it’s over the phone or on a mission it’s almost like he sees me as a friend but then he does something that reminds me that we’re not and I get upset and he gets angry that I get angry and then there’s an explosion and – I used to be afraid to show that I was upset with him and now that I can… Sorry, I’m rambling.”

   “That’s understandable.” Blinky agreed.

   “Wait it is?”

   “Of course! Me and Aargh were like that one! When he first joined us we instantly became friends but a bit after that there were times that I would look at him and all I would see was a soldier of Gunmar’s army and we would have fights over petty matters.”

   “Wait Aargh was on Gunmar’s side?” Eli asked incredulously.

   “Yes, he wasn’t always on the right side of things, just like your friend Steve, even if you don’t think he sees you as his friend he does, that much is obvious. After all how do you think he got pinned beneath Aargh?”

   “By charging at him?”

  “Yes he had been fighting him, or trying to at least but Aargh went after you when you tried escaping the ring and Sir Steve got in the way, leading to him being trapped.”

   “What? He- What?”

   “So, perhaps we should start finding our way back to the main cavern hm?” Blinky offered with a smile.

 

    Steve sighed a breath of relief once Blinky and Eli came back, he stood up from where he had been sitting with Aargh, no longer worrying that Eli had fallen, hit his head on a rock and was slowly being eaten by bats…or something. “Buttsnack you can’t run away like that! Bats could eat you or something!”

   “Actual caves like these are usually home to brown bats and those are insectivores, you know moths, beetles, wasps, mosquitos-”

   “Just don’t storm off into dark, unexplored caves.” Steve cut in.

   “Aye, aye sir.” Eli said, giving a salute.

   “Worried.” Aargh rumbled from beside Steve.

   “Yeah Aargh was worried.” Steve chided.

   “No.” Aargh clarified, shaking his head. “Steve worried.”

   “I was not!” Steve denied.

   “Pfft.” Eli snorted before laughing.

   “Oh shut it Pepperjack!”

   “I’m sorry for storming off into a dark, unexplored cave where I could’ve been eaten by bats.” Eli apologized between giggles.

   “I’m sorry for being such a bitch about the match and for not listening to your plans and for this morning and Blinky already explained the whole purpose of the test so uh yeah…” Steve muttered, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

   “Apology accepted.”

   “So we good?” Steve asked.

   “We’re the Creepslayerz, of course we’re good.” Eli smiled. Why couldn’t he stay angry with this dork?

   “Well I think that’s a nice conclusion for day one don’t you think?” Blinky said, grinning at the two of them.

   “Yeah but um…how do we get out of here?” Eli questioned.

 

    Steve drove along the dark roads with Eli sitting behind him, struggling to stay awake. The training had been tiring enough but paired with the enormous staircase that lead back up to the opening of the cavern **plus** the walk to the main road where the Vespa was waiting? Yeah, that had drained Eli. Steve hadn’t even understood the point of that whole slide at the beginning but Blinky had said that it was a ‘faster, more efficient, and funner way of traveling down to the main hall’.  

   So the first day hadn’t been a complete and utter train wreck. Nope, scratch that, it had, at least in Steve’s opinion. He wanted to smash his head into the nearest wall and then do it again just for good measure. He had definitely fucked up, majorly. He knew that he and Eli had some history but…well he never knew that Eli hated him so much. He had stopped bullying him and tried to be nice, well as nice as he could be but…yeah that morning had definitely been a mistake. He had gone to get Coach because he knew that if he had gone over there he was going to end up punching one of those assholes and then it would have been far worse for Eli.

   And what he had said to Steve at lunch time. Had he really been…afraid of him? Sure, yeah, Steve understood that he used to be an epic douche but to the point that he had scared Eli? Maybe smacking his head against the wall twice wouldn’t be enough. No wonder Eli adored Jim so much, Lake had been the one to stand up to him after all, had been the one to stand up for him when Steve was about to wale on him. And with how he had acted during the match…he wasn’t surprised that Eli hated him.

   As if on cue, Eli slumped further onto Steve, snuggling his face into his shoulder; he was out cold. Little snores escaped him. The snores and the peaceful look on his face was the only thing that alerted Steve that the other had fallen asleep since Eli still had a tight grip round his waist. Yeah, Eli hated him so he would take as many moments like this as he could. The moments were he wasn’t Steve the bully and instead was Steve, that dude driving the sleepy dork home, Steve the Creepslayer, just Steve.

   Luckily Eli’s house was closer so that way he wouldn’t have to pass his house and then double back. Another fortunate thing was that Eli’s mother still wasn’t home. She really did work late didn’t she? Not that it was that late but still. He parked the Vespa in front of the house and gently shook Eli, trying to wake him up.

   “Hey buttsnack, we’re home.” He whispered, shaking his shoulder a bit more forcefully.

   Eli’s eyes fluttered open and he blinked a few times trying to make sense of what was going on. “Steve?” He asked through a yawn, voice masked with sleep.

   “The one and only, come on, you’re home.”

  “Mm-hm.” He nodded before closing his eyes once more.

  “For Pete’s sake.” Steve sighed in exasperation as he got off the Vespa and slinging Eli’s backpack over his shoulder, putting a hand on the other’s waist, helping him up. “Let’s go you sleep drunken nerd.” He said before helping him to the front door, walking as if they were in a three legged race. He already knew that a spare key was kept under the flowerpot, so he used that to open the door, putting it back in its place afterwards.

   The stairs were a bit trickier but Eli woke up enough to make it manageable. Steve did an awkward attempt of trying to open the door to Eli’s room with said person half asleep on him but on the third try the doorknob finally twisted open. “Okay, here we go.” Steve said, walking him to the bed and helping him to sit on it.

   “Thanks.” Eli said with a sleepy smile before yawning and rubbing his eyes, managing to smudge to black lines even more, giving him a nice little raccoon effect.

   Steve snorted before looking around for something to clean that up with. He spotted a pack of wipes, snatched that up, removed Eli’s glasses and began wiping off the mess of black. “Team meeting,” Steve said softly as he worked. “No more black lines if all it’s really going to do is end up looking like you fell face first into a pile of coal.”

  Eli let out a laugh that made Steve smile brightly. “All clean,” Steve informed him, unclipping Eli’s helmet and setting it on the table. “More or less.”

   “Thanks.” Eli said once more with that same rosy smile before lying down. “Good night Steve.” He yawned before falling asleep once more.

   “Night.” Steve said, hesitating for a moment before taking off Eli’s eyeglasses and setting them on the bedside table as well, careful to not smudge the glass. He then covered the other with a blanket, letting out a chuckle when Eli snuggled further into the bed and turned off the lamp.

   He looked at Eli flooded in the soft glow of the computer monitor that never seemed to be turned off. The long eyelashes that brushed over the top of his rosy cheeks, the mess of dark hair, the slightly chapped lips, how his skin seemed to glow in the lighting, the small frame that seemed dainty but was actually quite strong.

   Steve closed his eyes for a moment, a memory from earlier that day flooding into his brain. When Blinky had been evaluating the match and explaining the criteria’s to him, he had only been half paying attention so it was fair to say that he had been caught off guard when the Troll had said “Why do you treat young Eli the way you do though you look at him the way Master Jim looks at Claire?” The surprised look on his face had told Blinky all that he needed to know. He opened his eyes and sighed, exiting the room and making his way down the stairs, shaking his head.

   Those six eyes could see right through him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY!!! EXPLAINING THE CAVE. You know the layout of an anthill? It's kinda like that to be honest. It's not dark because of the crystals like how Troll Market was lit up with them but the very entrance is pretty dark hence why Steve didn't see the opening.   
> Now this lil fight thing was a bit out there but Blinky wanted to evaluate them, see where they stand.   
> To be honest I'm almost done with this fanfic (I write it in advance then post it, I already have like seven chapters written. And I have some one shot ideas that haven't been written out and holy Zeus I fell for this ship H A R D but yeah. I already got some pain planned, some fluff, some words that weren't really thought out~) Stay tuned!!! Comments are appreciated even if you think whatever you have to say might not be important. It's important to me! <3  
> Have a nice week and hopefully I'll see you all again on Friday. ^0^


	4. Never Fuck With Eli's Logic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “All this blood and carnage resulted in the corruption of the first Heartstone.” Blinky continued “All Trolls are born from a Heartstone and Gunmar was no exception. Except he was born from one rotted by violence and death and hate. No amount of death could satisfy him and he greeted an army, Gumm-Gumm’s they’re called. Eventually the human and Troll realm separated but it wasn’t enough form him. He wanted to devour the surface world and no matter how much Trolls hated humans, they couldn’t allow that to happen. There was yet another war, this time between the Gumm-Gumms and the Trolls. It ended when the Trollhunter Deya the Deliverer defeated him and sealed him and his army away in the Darklands and then sealing the bridge linking the two worlds. Gunmar was the very reason why Trollhunters were made, hence the name, because although we are Trolls, so is he.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we get some explanations to their past...will it be a sweet or bittersweet remembrance?  
> I meant to upload this H O U R S ago but my power was been going on and off. Have I mentioned thatI'm absolutely terrified of the dark? Ahahahaha...  
> So anyway, here it is, late but still.  
> Oh and if any of you have seen Yuri On ice, you know how Yuuri gets those little confidence boosts every once in a while? I couldn't help but notice that Eli sort of has that too...Hehehehe

   “Talking?” Steve deadpanned, repeating what Blinky had said. “No fighting or nothing, just, talking? Seriously?” They were in the caverns once more, seated campfire style although they weren’t sitting around a campfire or anything. Too bad, he was seriously craving some marshmallows.

   “Communication is essential for teamwork.” Blinky explained. “You two do talk which is good but we have to make sure that you’re on an equal page, no more of those silly spats like yesterday because I can honestly tell you that if you wanted to know what miscommunication was you could look at yesterday’s performance.”

   “Bad.” Aargh agreed.

   “It wasn’t _that_ bad.” Eli said, fidgeting in his seat. ‘Seat’ being a surprisingly comfortable rock.

   “And we talked it out after that.” Steve added, crossing his arms and leaning back in his own seat. Even if yesterday’s training had been a fail, Steve had realized something. He wanted to do better. The way that Eli had said that he had been afraid of him, the way that Eli had just begged for him to see him as his equal…yeah, Steve wanted to do better. But talking about feelings…well that wasn’t exactly Steve’s strong suit.

   “Yes well either way, communication is important. Miscommunication was an issue Unkar the Unfortunate too.” Blinky said.

   “Who’s that?” Eli asked.

   “Er- no one of importance at the moment.” Blinky said quickly. “Now, I’m not going to have you sit down like toddlers and talk about those mushy feelings that you humans can’t grasp without exploding. Today, is about history.”

   “If I wanted a history lesson I could go back to school.” Steve pointed out with his usual grace even though he was instantly relived.

   “Hush Steve! He means the history of the Trolls and Gunmar, don’t you mister Blinky?”

   “Precisely young Eli.” Blinky said with a smile.

   “Ah so we’re finally going to learn about Gunmar and why he sort of wants to” Steve made a cutting motion at his neck followed by a ‘blegh’, smiling at the chuckle Eli gave at that “you all?”

   “He doesn’t want to fan our neck while making silly noises, he wants to kill us.” Blinky said. “And yes you will be learning about him. But be warned. You and young Eli have a choice here, you can listen to this, wanting to help us fight against him as you do now but when I’m done speaking you will have a choice as to whether or not you truly want to be in this war. You can turn back now and spare yourselves the tale and quit without knowing. The choice is yours.” He said, voice grave.

   There were a few seconds of silence before Eli looked over at Steve, a serious look on his face that almost masked his nervousness. He gave a small nod which Steve returned. “Well if my partner agrees then so do I.” Steve said without any hesitation whatsoever.

   The look of surprise that came over Eli’s face when the other said ‘partner’ was almost comical but it quickly faded into a small demure smile, cheeks a shade darker.

   “Right then.” Blinky said with a nod. “This all started when the human realm and the Troll realm first met. There were problems-misunderstandings, we feared each other, didn’t understand each other. It is unknown who cast the first stone but it is known that it resulted in war.”

   Eli raised his hand as if they were in an actual classroom before speaking. “Is that why Jim is that first human Trollhunter?”

   “Yeah.” Aargh replied with a nod.

   “All this blood and carnage resulted in the corruption of the first Heartstone.” Blinky continued “All Trolls are born from a Heartstone and Gunmar was no exception. Except he was born from one rotted by violence and death and hate. No amount of death could satisfy him and he greeted an army, Gumm-Gumm’s they’re called. Eventually the human and Troll realm separated but it wasn’t enough form him. He wanted to devour the surface world and no matter how much Trolls hated humans, they couldn’t allow that to happen. There was yet another war, this time between the Gumm-Gumms and the Trolls. It ended when the Trollhunter Deya the Deliverer defeated him and sealed him and his army away in the Darklands and then sealing the bridge linking the two worlds. Gunmar was the very reason why Trollhunters were made, hence the name, because although we are Trolls, so is he.”

   “Isn’t there a way to you know, talk to him?” Eli asked for a moment, allowing the information to sink in.

   Blinky sighed “You know that I’m all for peaceful resolutions but it would be impossible to. He was born of pure hate young Eli, his time in the Darklands has only hardened his withered shell of where a heart might have resided. Besides, Jim killed his only son.”

   “Wa-wait Jim _killed_ someone?” Eli asked, eyes wide.

   “Not someone, something,” Blinky said sternly. “Gunmar, his son Bular, they don’t have feelings, only an insatiable bloodthirst for death and destruction. If you cannot kill someone like that then you will be the one who gets killed because while you hesitate, Gunmar will not.”

  Eli visibly paled. Steve noticed and placed a reassuring hand on Eli’s shoulder who for once didn’t flinch. “Blinky, you’re at a level ten right now okay? How about you lower it to at least a level three.” Steve said in a low voice as to not further startle the other.

  He knew that Eli didn’t have anything against killing someone (for the greater good of course) after all they had formed the Creepslayerz on the notion of killing Jim and they had killed that goop monster. But what _was_ startling Eli was the idea that Jim, the person that Steve knew that Eli held to heroic standards, had killed was what was. What’s more is that Blinky had just showed how dangerous the whole thing was, what it could result in.

   Blinky frowned, looking ashamed of himself. “I’m sorry; I often forget that you all are…children by human standards. I didn’t mean to upset you…but on the same hand, I told you, I need you both to be completely sure that you want to do this.”

   “I-I’m sure.” Eli said with a nervous smile that seemed all too forced.

   Steve frowned and got up. “Excuse us, team meeting.” He said, patting Eli’s shoulder and making a motion to a nearby tunnel.

   Mutely Eli got up and followed him just into the mouth of the tunnel. “What is it?”

   “You know what it is,” Steve said but not in an angry way, he crossed his arms and leaned against the cavern wall. “This whole ‘Army against Gunmar’ thing.”

  “What about it?” He shifted in place, looking anywhere that wasn’t Steve’s face. He couldn’t stand looking at the disappointed look that he thought Steve would have.

   Why are you acting like you’re into it? And don’t say that you are because I had my hand on your shoulder and you were trembling.”

   Eli looked down and kicked at the ground with the toe of his shoe. “I want to help.”

   “At what cost?”

   “They fought against Gunmar to keep him out of our world and now he’s in theirs. I can’t just stand by _knowing_ that when I can help, even if it’s just a little.”

   “That’s not your job Eli!” Steve shouted, making the other jump. “Being a Trollhunter that’s Jim’s job, not yours! You don’t have to get involved!”

   “If I had had that attitude about ‘not getting involved in things that don’t concern me’ then I never would have become a Creepslayer with you, Steve.” Eli pointed out softly, squeezing his arm out of nervous habit.

   Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes for a moment before reopening them and looking at the other once more. “Eli…I get what you mean okay? I get that you don’t want  to feel helpless and that you want to defend our world but are you sure? When we first formed Creepslayerz we were just going at our pace, taking on the small tasks, this,” he motioned to the whole cave. “We never expected something as big as this.”

“I did, I expected a whole underground network beneath us but I never thought that I would have this much help or support. Besides, being part of an army to stop something born out of pure evil? It’s a once in a lifetime experience!”

   “So is skydiving without a parachute.” Steve muttered.

   Eli laughed. “Hopefully not with the same end result.”

   “Hopefully.” Steve agreed with a smile. “But seriously, you know that I got your back right? I’m temperamental, bitchy and I’ll test your patience at times but I have your back.

   Eli blinked a few times before his face split into a warm smile. “I know.”

  

   Once they got back and announced that they were in Blinky continued with the weirdest history/culture lesson in the history of the world. The Heartstone, how Trolls existed round the world, Changelings, Goblins, Gnomes, Quagawumps, Stalkings (Steve also learned that one had been after him once apparently, Gruesomes (they finally had something to call that goop monster) among other creatures. Eli had actually brought along his observation notebook with him and was jotting down little notes as he listened and asking questions and holy shit Steve shouldn’t find that positively adorkable but he did. It was just so…Eli. The way he took messy shorthand to be deciphered and written properly later, the way he stuck his tongue out, the way his brow furrowed when he accidently misspelled something.

   Funny, Steve was the jock, he was supposed to be the smooth talker, the lady’s man, yet he could be rendered speechless by a shy little nerd whose smile made his stomach feel like it was full of butterflies. It was that smile that had started it all, this whole inexplicable crush.

( _Totally non-cliché flashback time_ )

First day of freshman year he had been looking around for homeroom when he bumped into a mess of black hair that was carrying a stack of books up to their eyes, the books falling to the floor upon impact. Steve, being the gentleman that he secretly was immediately helped pick up the books when that whole cliché thing of ‘hand touching as books are picked up’ bullshit that only happens in stupid romantic comedies and cheesy s actually happened.

   Green eyes met brown and then the geek with the huge glasses gave him a bright smile that made Steve feel like he was on a rollercoaster. “H-hi, I’m Elijah Pepperjack.” He chimed happily and a tad nervously as if expected him to be angry. “S-sorry for bumping into you, it won’t happen again.”

   “It’s not your fault.” Steve mumbled when he found his voice. He finished collecting the fallen books and handed them back to Elijah. “Hey do you know where Mr. Stricklanders classroom is?”

   “Oh you take him too? That’s my homeroom. I heard that some people call him Strickler, rhymes with stickler.” He chuckled. “Yeah, I know where his classroom is, I could walk there with you.”

  “Okay just,” He took half of Elijah’s books and tucked it under his arm “So I don’t have to worry about you bumping into someone else. Alright? So which way Eli? Oh and I’m Steve by the way, Steve Palchuk, just moved here with my mom.”

   He smiled at Steve’s chivalry before donning a confused face. “Eli?”

  “Elijah’s a bit long and kind of dorky no offense, Eli’s much easier to remember, short and sweet like you. But if you don’t like it…” Steve explained, unaware at the time that he had just unconsciously called the other sweet.

  “N-no, I…I like it.” Eli said with a shy smile, cheeks a rosy colour as he looked to the ground to hide it. “The classroom’s this way.”

   “What are all these books about anyway?” he asked, lifting up one of the books and looking at the cover, ‘Cryptids From All Over The World’, he made an interested noise and tucked it back under his arm with the other books.

   Eli’s eyes widened before he broke into a huge smile (that once again made him feel those goddamn butterflies) and Steve suspected that no one had ever asked him about his books before, for some reason knowing that he might be the first to do so made him smile as well. “Steve, what do you know about the supernatural?”

 

   “Sir Steve!” Blinky called, apparently for the third or so time if the tone in his voice was anything to go by, causing said person to jump, wrenching him from his memories and give a confused ‘huh?’. Blinky sighed and facepalmed. “Sir Steve if you have no interest in the very creatures that you may face I suggest you peruse a different hobby that isn’t ‘creepy slaying’ as you put it.”

  “No, no, sorry Blinky it’s just that I’m kind of brain dead from all this learning, headache.” Steve explained, lamely. Although the headache and brain dead part was true. There was only so much information one could take in at a time. At that amount was cut in half when they were focused on going through their memories to torment themselves.

   “You’re more like Master Jim than I thought.” Blinky said with another sigh. “There will be a short recess to ‘un-brain dead’ yourself and then we’ll return. The learning part is only for one day sir Steve; I suggest that you make the most of it.”

   “Oh it is?” Eli pouted.

   “As a group at least, you are welcome to call me on my mobile cellular device young Eli” Blinky said.

   “I’m going to take that recess you offered.” Steve said, standing up and stretching for a moment to regain motor functions of his legs. “Eli you want to stay here and ask more questions don’t you?”

   “Yeah,” Eli said apologetically, a touch embarrassed that he could be read so easily. “Sorry, it’s just that all this,” he gestured to his scribble filled notebook. “This is incredible, I mean take the Changelings for example, an iron horseshoe makes them show their true self? Why iron specifically, and do ones only from the Troll Market work or could it be any horseshoe? And Claire’s brother-well not brother- is one? Maybe I could meet him-it-do Changelings have preferred gender pronouns, I mean they don’t necessarily conform to our little laws and they take the form of however their familiar is and okay I just realized I’m rambling, I’ll shut up now.” He rambled before snapping his jaw shut, face a shade pink.

   Steve had let him ramble without interrupting and waited a few seconds to make sure that he was done. “Okay, I’ll leave you to it. Just make sure your head doesn’t explode or something? Wouldn’t be the best of manners.” He said, gesturing to his own head and making a little ‘boom’ motion, smiling when Eli let out a laugh.

   “I’ll try; now go before your own head explodes.” Eli chuckled, making shooing motions at the other.

   “Aargh will accompany you to make sure you don’t get lost.” Blinky said and sure enough Aargh stood up from where he sat and went over to Steve without even arguing otherwise, apparently he needed to stretch his legs as well.

 

   “Sooooo,” Steve said after a few awkward minutes of walking in silence. “You don’t talk much do you?” He asked the giant which had him effortlessly pinned down the day before.

   “Blinky talks, I listen.” Aargh rumbled.

   That made sense. Steve could effortlessly imagine Blinky rambling on for hours on end and Aargh listening and offering a comment every so often. It suited both of their personalities well, a perfect balance of Ying and Yang. Yesterday Blinky had explained that it hadn’t always been that way but that was hard to imagine. Yeah, Steve had seen ghouls and goblins but Aargh and Blinky not always getting along in perfect harmony was what he couldn’t imagine. It reminded him of Eli and himself- or at least what Steve wanted them to be like. Eli rambling on and on about something, anything, and Steve listening to whatever it may be because hey, if it made Eli happy who was he to spoil that? Especially since he had done so before.

 

   Steve was the new kid, the prime target for bullying and teasing but the school bullies hadn’t known what category he fell into, jock or nerd, so that had spared him for a while. Just a while. Eli fell into the nerd category without a doubt but hey, he was sweet, funny, nice, caring, what did a silly high school title mean? Everything apparently. He had learned that quickly that day on the bleachers. They had only been friends for a week or so, he and Eli but they had already exchanged numbers, done a homework assignment together and knew a fair amount about each other, Eli had even been to his house once. Lunchtimes were spent on the bleachers were they would talk about different supernatural creatures or just about anything.

   And then the others found them, the same three guys who would mess with Eli later on in the future.

   “Hey, you’re Steve right? Steve Palchuk?” The brunet asked.

   “Yes, what is it?” said person asked, looking up from the book and missing the way that Eli froze and paled.

   “I’m Will, this is David and Jack.” The brunet-Jack said, gesturing to the other two by his side. Jack being the blonde and David being the tan one. “Coach Lawrence wanted us to ask you if you’re interested in being in any teams. You obviously seem like the athletic type.”

   “Oh yeah I would love being in one!” Steve perked. “Do I need to meet with him or something?”

   “Yeah, right now if you can.” Will said with a nod.

   “Ah, I’m hanging out with Eli, can it wait till later?” Steve asked, gesturing toward his friend and not noticing the way they shrunk in their seat.

   “Oh don’t worry; my friends will keep him company.” Will said with a smile that seemed a bit too friendly and forced, Steve of course, didn’t notice (dumbass). “You don’t want to keep coach waiting do you? Spots on the team fill up rather quickly.”

   “You okay with that, Eli?” Steve asked expectantly.

  Eli opened his mouth to speak but once again Will cut in. “Yeah he is, don’t worry, me and _Eli_ here go waaay back.”

  “Well…if you say so.” Steve said hesitantly before standing up and hopping off the bleachers. “See you later Eli.” He said brightly, waving goodbye and going with Will.

   Eli hadn’t looked for him after that, hadn’t contacted him, hadn’t walked him to class, he had been absent for a week or so and had switched seats away from him upon returning and Steve had no idea why. Steve had thought that they were close so for Eli to pull away like that so suddenly and without warning…it hurt. Just another person who could leave him without any regards to how he may feel about it. Just another example of why he shouldn’t trust people, why he shouldn’t get close to them. So when his new friends started picking on Eli…well who was he to not join in? To not make him hurt the way he had hurt him. Even if doing so ended up hurting Steve even more, how that smiling face was always looking at the ground whenever he was around, how he now flinched whenever Steve raised his hand rather than expect a high five, how-

     “Thinking.” Aargh said, making Steve jump for the second time that day. It wasn’t a question, an obvious statement like saying ‘the sky is blue’.

   “Yeah big guy I am.” Steve said.

   “About what?”

   “Nothing important.” He sighed, looking around to see where they were. By the looks of it they were walking along the outside region of the main cavern. “Just remembering things.”

  “Sad things?”

   “Yeah big guy, sad things, mistakes I made that I shouldn’t have.” He was starting to think that agreeing to this week was yet another mistake. He was close enough to Eli already, he was already in too deep but if they started talking like they used to, started hanging out like they used to, like Steve longed for him to do…well someone was going to hurt.

   Aargh nodded in understanding, after all he could be the Troll poster boy for ‘Mistakes’. “It’s okay, long as you fix them.”

   “That’s the thing big guy; I don’t think I can fix this one.”

   “Always fixable.” Aargh argued. “Even you and Eli.”

   Steve’s eyes widened for a moment before he smiled and let out a dead chuckle with no humour. “That obvious what I’m thinking about?”

   “I listen.” Aargh reminded.

 

   “Finally, I thought that bats had gotten you and-what was it you said that they would do? Eat you?” Eli teased once they returned.

   “Buttsnack.” Steve insulted with an eye roll and a smile.

   “Oh and guess what!?” He chimed, practically bouncing in his seat as Steve sat back down next to him.

   “Toby is secretly a goblin.”

   “What? No!” Eli laughed, giving Steve a playful shove with no force behind it. “Don’t be mean! Blinky is going to explain the suit’s origin!”

  “You mean Lake’s suit?”

   “What other suit could I be talking about?”

   It was obvious that Eli was very curious to see just how it worked. Although Steve doubted that something made of pure magic could be explained in a scientific way that Eli was looking for. After all, this whole thing was something straight out of a fairy tale. Seriously, a troll gets exposed to sun and it turns to stone? What law of physics explains that? Answer: none. And was far as Steve had seen was that Jim would be holding some watch like item, say some phrase, For The Glory of something, something, and then poof! Magical armour! By the look on Blinky’s face that was pretty the most sciencey it was going to get.

   Eli’s reaction to the whole explanation wasn’t disappointing.

   “Wait what?! It’s made out of sunlight? How is that possible?! Sunlight is a beam of light, something can’t be ‘made’ of it! That’s like saying that something is made of air! And Merlin made it? Merlin, as in Arthur’s Merlin? Merlin as in Merlin from the Black Cauldron- wait no that was Dallben- anyway, Merlin?! He’s a wizard and there has to be a logical explanation to it!” Eli shouted, shooting up from his seat. He really didn’t like his logic being messed with; it was one of the only things he knew that he could rely on.

   “We’re in a secret underground cave with Trolls that are here because a being made of pure evil and hate ran them out of their home which is by the way a secret underground society that’s life is sustained by a magical glowing rock the size of a mountain. Oh! Plus said evil being is from a different dimension. And _that’s_ what bothers you? That the suit is made from sunlight and was made by a wizard?” Steve asked, snickering a bit.

   “Yes! _Something_ has to make sense around here! And at least the Heartstone thing makes sense! It’s like a plant, the Heartstone is the leaf and makes energy for the plant and Gunmar being born was simply a virus! See? That can be explained! Not sunshine armours that pick people for no reason except that they’re ‘worthy’! I was sure that it had something to do with a certain gene or something!” Eli ranted.

   Steve snorted, trying desperately not to laugh. But come one! It was a tiny rage filled nerd, wasn’t he allowed to notice how adorable that is? “Look, buttsnack it’s not-”

   “I swear Steve Palchuk, you call me buttsnack one more fucking time I’m going to assume that you want to eat my ass and act accordingly! I’m having a science crisis over here!” Eli shouted.

   “Ah-um-you-uh-” Steve stammered, face redder than Jim’s Eclipse Armour, rendered completely speechless at _that_ statement.

   “O-oh god.” Eli said, finally catching himself, paling before his face exploded scarlet. “Please tell me this is a nightmare.”

   It wasn’t.             

   Blinky cleared his throat and the two of them simultaneously remembered that they were still in the caves with Aargh and him. “Ah, shall we continue with the lesson? If young Eli here is done with his ‘science crisis’ that is.”

   Eli nodded, obviously embarrassed as he sat back down. “S-sorry mister Blinky.”

   “It’s alright young Eli, I had a similar reaction when Tobias was explaining his science homework, of course it wasn’t as _vivid_ an outburst but you get the idea. Our ‘sciences’ are quite different, equally inexplicable in their own ways but that’s why I’m here to explain as best as I can. So, moving on.”

 

    The ride home was awkward to say the least. Steve would have guessed that the worst swear that Eli could say was stupid but he had been majorly wrong. And _that_. Steve would be the biggest liar on the face of the world if he said that hadn’t brought up a few choice images. He was gratefully to whoever it was that was watching over him at that moment that Eli couldn’t see his red face from where he sat behind him on the Vespa. Had his face ever gone back to its normal hue at some point after that? Probably not. The rest of the lesson had been completed with complete silence from the two of them save for the scratch of a pencil as Eli took notes.

   “We’re home, shortie.” Steve announced as they pulled up at Eli’s house, turning off the Vespa and turning around to look at the other.

   “T-thanks.” Eli said, climbing off and grabbing his backpack, not moving from where he stood on the sidewalk. Steve didn’t start the Vespa again, guessing that Eli was hesitating for a reason. He was right. “Hey do you want to come in? I mean I never thanked you for bringing me home yesterday, I don’t remember much except how tired I was. And I wanted to go over the notes I took with you if that’s alright, just to make sure that we’re clear on the weaknesses of the creepers.”

   “Yeah, okay that sounds good…but um I don’t want Coach to wring my neck for getting home late-well later than now.” Steve declined although on the inside he was cursing his awkward ass.

   “Oh! Right, no problem, sorry.” Eli apologized quickly. “What have you been telling him as an excuse? For staying out so late I mean. My mom works late so I don’t need an excuse but you never know.”

   “The truth.” Steve said automatically.

   “The truth?” Eli repeated, eyes wide. “Steve you know that-”

   “Relax,” He chuckled, holding up a hand to stop Eli’s inevitable ramble. He turned the Vespa back on before continuing to speak. “Not the whole truth of course, just that I’m hanging out with my friend Eli. Goodnight nerd.” He said before speeding off, leaving a thoroughly surprised Eli on the sidewalk.

   Wordlessly Eli entered his house and went to the kitchen to make himself some dinner, finding himself to be famished even though they hadn’t done any physical training today. He didn’t feel like cooking anything so he silently praised whatever god that was out there that there were still some reheatable dinners in the freezer. Eli unwrapped it, tossed it into the microwave and pushed the corresponding cook time, watching the tray slowly spin.

   “Friend.” Eli repeated with a small laugh before faltering, the smile slipping off his face as a memory that he tried to bury made itself known.

 

   He hadn’t wanted Steve to go with Will, definitely not, anything other than being left here with the bully’s friends. Will had been right about one thing though, they went waaay back. Will had been his original tormenter before Steve had come along. But if he opened his mouth it would be worse, much worse, but surely Steve would see that something was wrong right? Nope. It hurt his heart to see how brightly the other was smiling, absolutely thrilled with the idea of joining a team. Why wouldn’t he be? New kid in a new school, mom recently divorced? It had been hard on him as Eli knew. Who was he to take away that happiness from him? So Eli shut his mouth, waved him goodbye and offered him a weak smile which immediately fell once they left.

   “S-so, what’s up fellas?” He stuttered. He was surprised that it took them a full week to find him.

   “What’s up? Here’s what’s up buddy,” David began, sitting next to Eli in a way that would have seemed friendly if it was anyone but either of them. “We need you to stay away from Steve.”

   “W-what?! Why?!” Eli exclaimed, ice in his veins.

   “Eli,” Jack soothed, putting a finger to his lips in a ‘keep quiet’ gesture. “Here’s the thing, coach does want Steve on a team, which one I forget and we know he’ll make a great addition to any so we can’t have him being distracted by _you_.” He explained, empathizing the last word with a sour note.

   “You are a nerd, he’s a jock, two different worlds you know? Especially in High School. It would be easier if Steve wasn’t…divided between the two. And you’re our nerd; we can’t have you hanging out with someone from our team.”

   “Can you just let me have one friend?” Eli said more to himself than anything.

  “Sure, Jim or Toby or someone from the nerd squad like you but not this one. We don’t need another freak around here. You know how freaks get treated here don’t you _Eli_ ,” David purred, using his new nickname in a way that made Eli’s stomach turn. “you don’t want Steve to get labelled as a freak too do you? Especially since me and the boys are so good at dealing with-”

   “Don’t lay a hand on him! He’s my friend and-!”

   Eli had gone home after that with a minor black eye (along with more hidden bruises) and the lame excuse that he’s walked into a pole. Under the threats of Steve being messed with and another beat down he had stayed away from the other like the bullies had told him to do. The really funny thing was how not so long after that, it was Steve hitting him and not Will or the others. So yeah, that had been the one and only time that Eli had actually called Steve a ‘friend’ out loud.

   The microwave beeped, startling him and he took out the food. Friend. Eli scoffed, slamming the microwave door with more force than needed and trudged up the stairs, meal in hand. Steve was just using that word to make him feel better, to flatter him, he didn’t mean anything by it.

   Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! Um yeah. I'm sorry XD But every time I heard buttsnack i just imagined Eli getting majorly pissed off one day and saying that! Some days I love my imagination.  
> ALLOW ME TO DROP SOME TROLL LOGIC ON Y'ALL  
> B O O M  
> Tell me what you think ^.^ Or to just yell at me, I'm fine with either  
> Okay i was checking something and are you guys seeing two notes at the bottom or is that just a glitch on my end?  
> IMPORTANT: I FORGOT TO MENTION BUT UPDATES WILL BE POSTPONED, I HAVE TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL, NOTHING TOO SERIOUS, JUST ISSUES WITH MY DIABETES, DON'T WORRY, I'LL UPDATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE  
> 


	5. This Is A Good Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He reached the end of the tunnel and landed on his feet, like a cat. Eli stood up and dusted off his shorts before looking up with a bright smile. He had thought that it was weird that Blinky and Aargh weren’t waiting for Steve and him but he never would have imagined the scene before him. Most of the Trolls if not all of them were surrounding an angry Blinky and Aargh and arguing about…something. He wasn’t sure what. Nobody had noticed his presence yet so maybe he could slip away before they did.  
> At least that was the plan before Steve emerged from the slide and skidded into Eli (who hadn’t moved from the front of the said slide), crashing in a tangle of limbs and definitely getting the Troll’s attention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hospital wouldn't except my insurance so fuck that, then I was deadass tired from coming home at three fucking AM, then the next day the internet was on the fritz and today mother was off her meds (or on too many) and established new computer/internet rules. That being said updates might be slower :( But I'll do my best! The one fucking time i set up a schedule for updates everything happens to prevent that schedule!  
> Okay so this chapter is strange but necessary okay? This was written on crack okay? Crack. Or LSD...don't do drugs, kids.

   “So how has the training been going?” Jim asked at lunch hour the next day, already noticing Eli’s change in attitude, he didn’t slouch over as often and looked people in the eye when he spoke rather than at the ground.

   “Great! It’s only been two days but I’ve been learning a lot!” Eli said happily. “Steve has been too. The first day was sort of a train wreck but yesterday was better; I got a lot of useful notes.”

   “Blinky told us about how you and Steve had a battle against Aargh on the first day! He said that you were skating around like pow and blam and zap!” Toby said making little sound effects to better elaborate.

   “Ah yeah. He was kind of scary though, but it was fine I guess.”

   “Sorry that we weren’t here yesterday, we were…busy with our own training.” Jim apologized. “Strickler’s back with Nomura and with the whole Gunmar absorbing the Heartstone and being stronger than ever…” Jim trailed off with a sigh. Gunmar, the pale lady, the list kept growing.

   “It’s fine,” Eli quickly waved off, feeling bad as he could see how tired Jim was with the bags under his eyes. He felt like there was more to it but he kept his mouth shut. “Claire you okay?” he asked instead, noticing the far off look she had.

   “Huh Oh sorry Eli, were you saying something?” Claire asked, speaking for the first time since they sat down to eat.

   “Are you okay?” Eli repeated. “You seem tired, well all of you do. I know that you’re all doing your best but it won’t do any good if you die of exhaustion first. You need to take care of yourself.”

   “I’ve been having nightmares, hard to sleep.” Claire explained lamely. “But thanks for your concern.”

   “Speaking of nightmares, where’s Steve?” Toby asked.

   “Right here, did you miss me Dumbzalski?” Steve said, sitting at the table as if on cue. “Sorry, I got held up by coach, wanted me to-er never mind, it’s not important. What are we talking about?”

   “Bout how yours and Eli’s training,” Toby replied, rolling his eyes at the nickname Steve gave him. “Eli’s not the only one learning is he?”

   “Course not, yesterday we were learning about Gunmar and Bular and a bunch of other creepers along with their weaknesses.” Steve said before turning to Eli. “Again, sorry that I had to bail yesterday but I thought of how it would be easier to study the creatures and their weaknesses, it sounds dorky but I was thinking of making flashcards or something like that that can be easily studied.”

   “Do my ears deceive me or did Steve just _apologize_ for something _and_ say the word think?” Jim teased.

   “Shut up Lake, like I already said I’m not just a bully. I can be more than just the muscle of the group you know.”

   “You’re right, sorry Steve, I was just teasing.” Jim apologized

   “And anyway you’re not a bully anymore; you’re sitting at the nerd table aren’t you?” Eli added.

   “I’m not sitting at the nerd table.” Steve denied.

   “Then what table is this?” Claire asked.

   Steve grinned. “The Creepslayerz and Trollhunters table.”

   “Uh no,” Toby corrected. “it would be the Trollhunters and Creepslayerz table because our team was made first, so close but no.” Which lead to the rest of the lunch hour being an argument between Steve and Toby as to what the table should be called. (Who won? We shall never know)

 

(In the caves, well walking to them)

   “What do you think we’re going to do today?” Eli asked as they hiked up to where the cave opening was. “Maybe we’ll be able to learn more about the Troll history, there’s a few gaps that I want to fill in.”

   “No way, Blinky said that the learning bit was just for one day and I’m ready for some physical training.” Steve waved off. “He might have us fight Aargh again or something like that, this time I promise to listen to any plan you have first, I don’t want to end up squished under him again.”

   “I don’t think he’ll do that yet, I think he’ll have us do more bonding exercises or something, that _is_ the whole point of this remember?” he reminded, pausing to grab a flashlight from his backpack and turning it on as they entered the cave. “So who goes first this time?”

   “I’ve been going first and you’ve been landing on my ass for the last two days, I think it’s your turn to go first.”

   “It’s not my fault you don’t know how to land and move out of the way fast enough.”

   “Your idea of landing is landing on top of me, not the most graceful of landing techniques.”

   “You’re comfy to land on and for your information I have the grace of a cat.” Eli said before tripping on a rock as if on cue. Steve got him out of habit, a hand on his waist and the other holding onto his backpack to steady him.

   “Yeah, the grace of a cat with its whiskers singed off.” Steve chuckled, righting the smaller boy and gesturing to the hole right in front of them. “After you.” Right after he said that there were shouting voices echoing up from said opening.

   “You will never be Vendel!” A voice that neither recognized shouted.

   The other voice they did know. “I’m not trying to be him!” Blinky shouted back. Neither had seen Blinky angry so it came as a surprise to hear him like that.

   Without waiting a moment Eli ran up and jumped into the hole, letting out a small yell as he did so. He had already gotten used to the many twists and turns of the natural slide, already knew almost every turn by heart. Something changed in him whenever he slid down to that hidden world. Almost as if when he jumped all of his worries and responsibilities were left on the surface. Here he could be free, he could ramble about the supernatural without fear of being mocked, he could be himself without worrying about seeming odd and he could be with Steve without fear of Jack, David and Will. For just a few hours, he could be Eli the Creepslayer, Eli the nerd, Elijah Pepperjack and it was fine. In that mystical cavern that exceeded his wildest imaginations, with beings that he had only seen in books and in a chance sighting late at night.

   He reached the end of the tunnel and landed on his feet, like a cat. Eli stood up and dusted off his shorts before looking up with a bright smile. He had thought that it was weird that Blinky and Aargh weren’t waiting for Steve and him but he never would have imagined the scene before him. Most of the Trolls if not all of them were surrounding an angry Blinky and Aargh and arguing about…something. He wasn’t sure what. Nobody had noticed his presence yet so maybe he could slip away before they did.

   At least that was the plan before Steve emerged from the slide and skidded into Eli (who hadn’t moved from the front of the said slide), crashing in a tangle of limbs and definitely getting the Troll’s attention.

   “H-hey.” Eli greeted with an awkward wave. “What’s up?”

   “Oh wonderful, the fleshlings are here.” One of the Trolls, probably the one who had been yelling at Blinky, said. “Off you go Blinkous, go ‘train’ those new soldiers of yours.”

   “ _You_ should have more respect, especially since without the help of those two honourable humans you would be nothing more than a stone statue.”

   “What’s going on Blinky?” Steve asked, getting up and giving Eli a hand as well. He realized that that Troll was the only one squaring off against Blinky and the others were just watching. “Just people watching a fight at school.” He mumbled, Eli nodded, hearing him.

   “Nothing you need to concern yourself with Sir Steve and young Eli.” Blinky said with a wary smile. “It’s just one of the many joys of being the new leader. There seems to be a food shortage and instead of bringing it up in a peaceful and civilized manner this gentleman instead decided to make a show of questioning my leadership.”

   “Anything we can do mister Blinky?” Eli questioned.

   “No, no, don’t trouble yourselves, but we will have to cancel today’s training.” He replied apologetically.

   “There has to be something we can do.” Steve pressed, not missing the way the Troll that started the argument was glaring at him.

   “Unless you have a magical solution to the problem then no.” Said Troll scoffed. (I wrote this character and I want to punch him, who’s with me?)

   “Hm…” Eli hummed, thinking for a moment. “Maybe we do, please hold on for a few hours.” He said before grabbing a confused Steve’s hand and leading him to the stairs that led to the surface, taking them two at a time.

   “Uh Pepperjack? What are we doing?” Steve asked once they were out of ear shot, almost stumbling as he was being pulled by the other.

   “We are going to help mister Blinky; I thought that that was obvious.” He replied without looking back.

   “Well yeah but how?”

   “You promised that you would listen to any plan I had right?” Eli asked, stopping and finally looking back at him, eyes hard and full of determination. Steve nodded, finding his throat dry. “Good because I have a half-baked plan that might work.” He squeezed his hand and continued up the steps.

   There wasn’t a leader in Creepslayerz, they were partners, equals. But Steve had to admit in the moment that he didn’t mind at all the way that Eli was leading, the air of confidence that surrounded the other. Half-baked plan or no, if it was good enough for Eli to go along with then it was good enough for him. He squeezed his hand back in reassurance that yes, he would follow through with whatever plan he had in mind and that yes it would work.

   They reached the top and were half way down the mountain before Eli slowed his pace. It wasn’t too late yet, probably no later than five and with summer fast approaching it meant that the sun still wouldn’t be going down for some time. Good for the humans, bad for the Trolls. Funny, neither of them had paid much attention to how much time of daylight there was but now Steve was thinking about how the seasons must affect the Trolls, from the long days in summer to the short days of winter. He knew that Eli had probably worked that all out from the time that they first found out about their sun weakness but still.

   The mountain side was beautiful, lush trees surrounding them and other flora. The sunshine filtered through the leaves of the trees like liquid gold, casting warmth over the two of them and Steve sighed at the pleasant scenery. What if they weren’t at this mountain for the reason that they were? What if they were just walking around here for the fun of it, hand in hand? Steve mentally shook his head; now was not the time for such thoughts, now they had a mission. The Creepslayerz, back in action and better than ever.

   They reached the Vespa when Eli let go of his hand, the two climbing onto the vehicle. “So where to?” Steve asked, tossing Eli’s helmet to him before putting on his own.

   “The town dump, I have to pick something up from there.” Eli replied, already making mental calculations as to how this whole plan he had would work.

 

   “Isn’t this Señor Uhl’s old truck?” Steve asked, watching sceptically as Eli fiddled around with some wires surrounding the engine. “I thought that Jim and the others had trashed it when they went joy riding.”

   “Yes it is and you and I both know that Jim, Claire and Toby didn’t steal or trash this car.” Eli said, not looking up as he continued to work. “And it’s not trashed, well the hood is but the engine still works. Uhl had been looking for an excuse to get a new truck anyway he just gave Jim detention because-” The engine spluttered to life. “Finally! Good job, baby!” he praised the car, closing the hood. “After you.”

   “Wait what? You want _me_ to drive?” Steve asked, incredulous.

   “I don’t have much experience driving.” Eli confessed with a shrug. “Besides, this truck has already been crashed into a pole.” He added with a smile that could be defined as a smirk.

   “Smug bastard,” he muttered. “Okay but why do we need a truck if we’re going on a food run?”

   “Trolls don't eat food per say, more like junk and scraps, as you can see we're in the junk yard but no way to transfer much of it. however I help out the grocery store manager and he has an old little car trailer that he doesn't use much. Do you understand what I'm getting at?”

   “I think I do you little mastermind. Get in the truck.” Steve chuckled, shaking his head. This was either going to work really well or fail terribly.

    It was a small town on a Wednesday which meant  that not many people should be out but they avoided the main roads so they didn’t run into anyone. Which was good because hey, a banged up truck tended to call attention. At least the air conditioning worked. While the ride wasn’t pleasant and calm Steve felt full of energy, a kind of buzz like they were doing something wrong. Not that they were of course. Was it legal to fix up an abandoned car from the dump and then drive said car? He would have to look that up later. Eli was quiet, just sitting still and twiddling his thumbs, probably not wanting to distract him.

   “Hey Eli,” Steve began making said person jump. “Which store? The Grocery Store on main or the one in the shopping centre?”

   “M-main.” Eli replied, looking back out the window once more.

   ‘Geez he switches from confident to timid fast.’ He thought but chose not to mention, changing the subject once more. “So how did you know the truck was still at the dump?”

   “The dump is like my own private store for spare parts except everything is free.” He explained, looking over at the other. “I’ve wanted to fix this car for a while but I’ve been putting it off, the best I could do for now was the quick fix.”

   “That’s why you came to class smelling like fish one day! I thought that it had been your lunch or something! I knew that you like mechanics but I didn’t think you were so dedicated to it. You’ve been working on those kinds of projects since you were…eight right?”

   “Seven and a half actual,” Eli corrected with a smile. “I’m uh, I’m surprised you remembered that.”

   “Course I did, I never got to see that mini robot you mentioned to me once. Oh wow we’re already here. That was fast. Time really does fly when you’re hijacking trucks to go on a food slash scrap run for mythical Trolls that live in caves.” Steve said, relishing in the way that the other burst out laughing.

 

   “You need to borrow that old trailer because you need to move tree saplings?” Mr. Mori, the grocery store manager, repeated, puzzled. He wasn’t an old man but he wasn’t super young either, probably around thirty to forty. Black curly hair that was slightly speckled with a few stray greys, crow’s feet at the corner of his eyes which were a bright, clear, blue and a warm smile that made him easily likeable.

   “Yep!” Eli confirmed. "It’s for a school thing, to get us to go more green and uh yeah. I remembered that you had that so I thought that it wouldn’t be a problem, plus I know that you’re very meticulous with how you keep it well oiled even though you don't use it very often and it would be cheaper than renting one considering that we won't be needing it for long.”

   “You are right on both parts; it’s nice to see that the school is promoting such awareness of the environment but is so much really necessary? Shouldn't they at least give the students an easy way to transport the saplings?”

   “Go big or go home.” Steve said with a shrug, speaking for the first time since arriving and really wishing that Eli had clued him in more on what their cover would be rather than just entering the store without telling him anything.

   “Alright, alright,” Mr. Mori said “Do you need any help with the trailer, Eli? It can be a bit tricky to hook up. ”

   “No thank you Mr. Mori, I don’t want to trouble you, besides Steve’s helping me out.”

   “Oh so this is Steve?” He asked, holding his hand out and shaking hands with said person. They had never formally met prior to now. “I’m Arthur Morti, Arty for short, Eli’s a great help around here so it’s nice to finally meet his boyfriend.”

   Eli choked on air and Steve froze mid-handshake. “M-Mr. Morti! Steve’s just a f-friend from school!” Eli stammered, voice cracking as he felt his face grow hot up to the very roots of his hair. Steve was a lovely shade of red as well.

   “Oh! My mistake,” Arti said, letting go of Steve’s hand. “it’s just that you talk about him so often when you come to help that I just assumed-”

  “It’s fine! C-can you just please tell us w-where the trailer is?!?” Eli asked, sincerely wishing that the Earth would open up and swallow him whole. Then again Gunmar was currently under Arcadia in Trolls Market so maybe not.

   “Of course, sorry again.” He apologized. “It's next to the dumpster as always, Eli. I oiled it this morning as usual so it should run smoothly. I trust that you two have a car to hitch it up too?”

   “It’s fine and we do, thanks again Mr. Mori, it was nice to meet you,” Steve said politely, getting over his shock. “Come on shorti.”

   The trailer was a bit tricky to hook up to the car since neither had worked with it prior but both of them were two stubborn (and embarrassed) to go back inside and ask Mr. Mori how it should be done. One would think that such a thing would be easy but no, it was a horrible cringey mess. They were quiet as they work, neither knowing what to say and both being too awkward. Even with all the complications they were able to eventually hook the trailer up, although they were both sweaty and tired when they were finally done. On top of all that Eli only tripped once, Steve caught him of course but this time there was something different even if neither would admit it. A hold a second longer than need be, eyes lingering, each painfully aware of the closeness between each other. Steve was pretty sure that no torture technique could be even half as worse than this and Eli felt the same way. Steve turned the key and for a moment it stalled, both of them afraid that they were going to end up stranded there before it spluttered and roared to life. Steve then drove it around the back of the store for a bit to make sure that the coupling wasn't loose, climbed out, looked it over and deemed it fit. They climbed back into the truck and Eli busied himself by writing something, notes probably. They were halfway before one of them spoke, it was Steve of course.

   “So you talk about me when you help out huh?” He asked with a shit eating grin plastered onto his face.

   “Steve, do not.” He groaned.

   “Aw come on. You can tease me about thinking bats would eat you and about how I crashed your mom’s car into a pole but I can’t tease you about this?”

   “Fine, I guess that’s far.” Eli sighed.

   “So what do you say about me?” Steve prodded. “You don’t rant about me to him do you?”

   “What? No.” he shrugged, not sure how to answer. “I don’t rant I just say…stuff.”

   “Like? Oh no wait let me guess,” Steve cleared his throat before giving his best impression of the other. “Steve is sooo awesome! He’s all athletic and stuff and sooo awesome!”

   Eli laughed. “What do you take me for? I’m not some lovesick admirer of yours.”

  “Okay then how about this ‘If Steve calls me a buttsnack one more time-”

   “You swore that you would never bring that up again!” Eli shrieked, covering his ears which were bright red.

   “I swore nothing, now spill!” Steve laughed.

   “Fine! It’s not anything exciting anyway just things like ‘Hey, Steve took me to the museum today, it was the bomb.’ And before you ask yes that is an inside joke to how we used a flour bomb. ‘Me and Steve got a flour baby, it was named Flip and it had his hair along with my terrible eyesight.’ ‘Steve took me for a ride on his Vespa again, it was awesome! Except mom wasn’t too happy about that.’ ‘He helped me climb the rope, it was really sweet of him.’  ‘Swear you won’t tell but me and Steve borrowed my mom’s car last night, something made the radio fritz out and it started playing ‘The wheels on the bus’!’ He laughed spectacularly loud at that one. That enough information for you?”

   “That was…well no wonder he thinks we’re a thing!” he exclaimed, he would have facepalmed but he was driving so uh yeah no. “You go on and tell mushy stories like that anyone would think that!”

   “S-sorry, I was just modifying them to cut off the parts about creepers and thing like that. And sorry i-if that made you angry…the whole thing about him thinking _that_. He didn’t mean anything by it.”

   “I wasn’t mad,” Steve said, surprised that Eli would think that. “I was surprised actually, that someone could think that we were an item I mean we are an item as the Creepslayerz but you know what I mean. And you don’t have to apologize Eli, I’m not mad about the stories.  Again, I’m just surprised that anyone could describe me in a way that’s so…”

   “Stupid?”

   “Nice. In a way that’s so nice, especially with how I used to treat you. Eli…you do know that nothing I do is going to make up for that right? And before you argue like the too good of a person you are it’s true. You didn’t-you _don’t_ deserve that.”

   Eli looked over at Steve who had his eyes on the road and was acting like they had just said tomorrow’s weather. “…This is a good start.”

  

    The sun had already gone down when they arrived at the caves (it had taken longer than expected to fill the trailer, especially when these two kept making jokes in the midst of working), leaving everything dark and cold and nothing like a horror movie at all. You know those ones with the creepy trees and every shadow looked like it would slit one’s throat, true no horror movie had two teenagers lugging two children's wagons with the first load of scrap (It had been Eli who thought of snagging those from the dump as well since the truck would not be able to drive all the way to the entrance of the caverns). And no fright film had teenagers actually waving to a huge mysterious shadow approaching them. Well, said shadow was just Aargh so no danger there. (But seriously though, boys don’t wave to random ass shadows, stranger danger.)

   “Hey Aargh!” Eli called, the light from his headlight (One of those like headband flashlights) illuminating the Troll. “What are you doing out here?”

   “Blinky said to wait.” Aargh rumbled.

   “You weren’t waiting too long were you big guy?” Steve asked, now feeling a tad guilty that they took so long.

   “No.” He answered before pointing to the wagonss they had. “Smells good.”

   “How the hell are you smelling scrap metal and other odorless crap?” Steve asked.

   “He has a really heightened sense of smell remember?” Eli reminded before turning his attention back to Aargh. “We were able to find some stuff, there’s more in the trailer tied to the truck by the road. I also made a list that I need to talk about with Blinky, is he still there?”

   “Yeah. Arguing stopped.” Aargh informed them and headed toward the direction of said truck.

   “Thanks big guy!” Steve called as he and Eli continued making their way to the opening of the cavern. “Make sure not to trip dork, I can’t catch you this time.” He warned.

   “I’m not _that_ clumsy.” Eli denied but he kept his gaze to the ground, looking for any rocks that might trip him up.

   “So how do we take this stuff down? Slide it down or something?”

   “I was thinking that I slide down and then you slowly side the stuff down so I can move it out of the way so the tunnel end doesn't get blocked all at once. We’ll wait until Aargh comes with the rest of it though.”

   “One, I’ll go down first because if one of the bigger things fall on you you’d probably die or something, two Aargh’s not bringing it all, we have to go back to help.” Steve said.

   “I would not die! Also, five bucks says he ends up bringing the rest of it without even thinking twice about it.” Eli bet.

   “You’re on!”

   They both waited, watching the entrance of the cavern for Aargh to arrive. Less than ten minutes later he did and there wasn’t a doubt in either of their minds that he had brought everything else from the trailer. Probably because he was carrying the whole trailer, which thankfully did not look damaged. Steve grumbled to himself and went down the slide before Eli could say anything although the sound of his laughter followed him. For once Steve landed properly.

   “Ah Sir Steve, you’ve returned!” Blinky greeted, obvious relief on his face.

   “Sorry that it took so long, there was a hot wiring of a car, a run in with a grocery owner who had some interesting info, a chance to embarrass Eli and you know that I couldn’t pass that up.” Steve explained before turning back to the slide. “Okay send ‘em down!”

   “I’m going to assume that everything you just said is human code for something.” Blinky said.

   “Aargh no, not all at once!” Eli shouted from the surface.

   There was a rumbling noise from the slide and Steve sighed. “Let me guess…” He deadpanned right before he was buried under all the (s)crap. Ah well, you can’t blame Aargh for thinking that sending them all down at once would be the fastest way to do it. Technically he was right.

   “Steve, are you under there?” Eli asked, landing at the bottom of the slide.

   “No Eli I’m standing on top of all this junk like the king of the mountain.” He said dryly.

   “I could leave you under there.” He threatened even he didn’t mean a word of it. “Aargh a little help?”

   “Sure.” Said Troll replied, moving some of the items to the side, trying to find Steve.

   “Marco!” Eli yelled.

   “Seriously!?” Steve asked.

   “Just play along so we have some idea of where you are! Marco!” he huffed.

   “Screw you!”

   “Good luck with that from under the bags! Marco!”

   “Polo!” Steve finally relented just because it was getting a bit stuffy. They found him before too long and Aargh pulled him out. While one or two pieces of junk didnn't smell particularly awful ,the whole mess had just been from the dump so Steve didn’t exactly smell daisy fresh, but it wasn’t too bad, he would survive.

   “You alright?” Aargh asked, brushing him off.

   “I’m fine big guy, thanks for the help.” Steve said, before looking to Eli. “No thanks to you.” He added but not in an angry way.

   “I helped find you!” Eli protested with a laugh. “We did Marco Polo, even though _someone_ wasn’t cooperating." his face turned into one of worry "But you're alright right? You didn't get cut by anything? Oh god you don't have tetanus do you? Have you had your shots?"

   “I'm fine, you nerd." Steve laughed. Eli didn't look convinced. "I'm fine." he repeated, holding out his arms and doing a slow turn to show that nothing had cut him. "But I will be taking like two showers. Now what's that list you were making about?" 

   “Well I made a catalogue of the places that are likely to have the most junk items, including the dump, you know local mechanic shops, pawn stores, places, thrift stores, places that would have a high amount of clothes and metals which is what Trolls prefer most. This way they could do supply runs-at night of course-without just relying on us or Jim or anything like that.” Eli explained.

   “Has anyone told you that you’re a genius?” Steve asked.

   It could have been due to the poor light that the bioluminescence and the torches lining the cavern walls but he could have sworn that Eli blushed as he mumbled something that sounded like a ‘thanks’ before he went to Blinky. Steve chuckled a bit under his breath but stopped once he heard Aargh snicker beside him. Now it was his turn to flush. “Not one word out of you big guy.” Steve warned and even though it might have been his imagination he was certain that that made the other laugh more.

   “Tell him.” Aargh said after he was done chuckling.

   “Tell him what?” he asked even though he had a pretty good idea as to what the other was going to reply with.

   “You like him.”

   “I wish it were that easy big guy but it’s not. It’s um, it’s complicated.”

   “How?” Aargh asked, after all, what he knew about human relationships was what he had learned from observing his friends. Jim liked Claire and they would…what was it called? Kiss? The thing where they would put their mouths together and close their eyes. And Jim liked Toby but Jim and Toby were friends so it didn’t count like that, Claire and Jim were morefriends as Aargh chose to call it. Steve and Eli acted like Jim and Claire so were they morefriends too? Aargh knew what he was, he was Toby’s wingman and friends with them all. He didn’t have a morefriend but it was fine because he didn’t want one. But if he did want one then all he would have to do was ask right? Like when you ask someone to be your friend.

   “Because,” Steve sighed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “geez why am I talking about this with you?” he muttered to himself before speaking up. “People get scared about these kinds of things, they get worried that the one they like won’t feel the same and it makes a person nervous. And when someone gets nervous they get butterflies in their stomach you know?”

   “Eat them.” Aargh rumbled.

   “Huh?”

   “Eat the butterflies. No butterflies, no worries.”

   This time it was Steve’s turn to laugh. “Pretty sound advice buddy, thanks.” He looked over at where Blinky and Eli were in full nerd mode, going over Eli’s chart and how to improve it and whatnot.

   Eli rushed over to him, waving said paper in hand. “Hey Steve, mister Blinky loved the idea!”

   “Of course he did, I knew he would.” He congratulated, giving the other a fist bump. “Another successfully mission completed by the Creepslayerz! Boo-yah!”

   “Boo-yah!” Eli exclaimed as well with a bright smile.

   “Now,” Steve said seriously. “We need to head back to the dump because my baby is still there since you _insisted_ that there wouldn’t be space for her in the trailer or in the backseat of the car and if anything has happened to her I swear not even Gunmar will be able to protect you.”

  

   After returning the trailer to Arty, leaving the beat up truck at the dumpster and picking up the Vespa (which was perfectly all right, calm down people, no harm will come to the Vespa) they began to drive back home. Blinky apologized numerous times since they hadn’t been able to do the exercise he had had planned for the day even though they had both assured him that it was fine. Besides, this whole experience in a way had been a pretty good bonding exercise. They had come up with a plan, worked together, completed said plan. Sounds like a win. Steve hadn’t asked what Blinky had planned for the day but it didn’t mean that he wasn’t curious.

   Ah well, whatever it was they would probably find out what it was tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I CAN'T HAVE BEEN THE ONLY ONE TO WORRY ABOUT THE REALISTIC THINGS AFTER THE SEASON TWO FINALE! LIKE WHEN IT ENDED I WAS JUST LIKE "oh how are the Trolls going to live?" "Oh where are they going to stay?" "Where are they going to get fucking FOOD from?" EDIT: SOMEONE POINTED OUT TO ME THAT TROLLS DON'T EAT FOOD FOOD SO I DECIDED TO FIX THAT AFTER UH A MONTH? IT'S BEEN BUGGING ME, BUT IN A LATER CHAPTER THERE'S A MENTION OF HOW THEY TRANSPORTED FOOD BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER WHERE? SO JUST IGNORE THAT WHEN IT COMES ALONG, SO HERE WE GO, SLIGHT CHANGES TO MAKE IT SCRAP AND NOT FOOD FOOD. AGAIN I FEEL INCREDIBLY STUPID, LIKE YOU HAVE NO IDEA, I CRINGE WHENEVER I THINK OF MY MISTAKE.   
> I couldn’t think of a last name for the grocery store manager so I legit looked up the translation for Die in Latin (when all goes wrong go Latin) and it was Mori, it’s the same in Spanish too fyi except mori is died. Yes his name is a play on the name Moriarty. His nickname? Arty? Arty Mori=Moriarty XD I love Sherlock.  
> Oh and the butterfly thing was inspired by the Tumblr post: "The other day we were discussing dating and this one dude was like “I don’t see the big deal, why can’t people just ask people out without all the fuss” and the other guy was like “well you get nervous and you get butterflies in your stomach ya know?” and the first dude looks the other dude straight in the eye and said “digest them" So yeah. And the dorks are starting to get along! Yay! Like talk you fucking idiots, stop assuming that one hates the other!!!! (Please ignore the author yelling at his own writing)  
> Long ass end notes huh? NEXT CHAPTER IS MY FAVOURITE SO FAR


	6. If I Could Tell Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It just felt right.  
> Steve swallowed, throat suddenly feeling dry as he looked down at the one on his shoulder who gave him a bright but exhausted smile that made his stomach fill with those pesky butterflies. ‘Eat the butterflies. No butterflies, no worries.’ He remembered Aargh saying. He felt dizzy, lightheaded and full of energy all at the same time. “Hey, Eli.” He quickly forced before he could change his mind, throat feeling tight.  
> “Yeah, Steve?” he asked, looking up at him with that goddamn face that should be illegal. Bathed in the lights of the setting sun, clothes soaked and clinging to his small frame, hair stuck to his face, cheeks rosy and eyes positively twinkling and just looking like damn Eli.  
> “Can…” he swallowed once more, feeling like he was going to faint or something. ‘Just do it!’ his mind screamed, his heart screamed, his whole body screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fucking love musicals okay? I couldn't think of a title for this chapter so I went with Dear Evan Hansen "If I could tell her" because I love that song and I'm a hopeless romantic. I haven't been able to find where I can find the whole musical though =_=

_‘I’m pretty sure that I still smell like trash.’_ Steve texted Eli even though they were in the first class of the day, which unfortunately was Señor Uhl’s class. Luckily Eli’s phone was in his pocket and on vibrate so it didn’t draw any attention.

   ‘ _Do you have a death wish?’_ Eli quickly replied. They sat near the back of the class so it was easy to keep it hidden.

   _‘No, just bored._ ’

   ‘ _Bored?_ ’

   ‘ _Yes, bored and thinking that I smell like trash._ ’

   ‘ _You don’t smell like trash and put the phone away before you give us detention.’_ Eli replied before taking his own advice and pocketing the phone again.

   Steve sighed dramatically and did the same. He didn’t know what it was but he was even antsier than usual. Maybe it was because he spent his afternoons with so called imaginary beings that the class wasn’t interesting. Or maybe it was because Señor Uhl was reviewing all the tenses that there were in the Spanish language again. Probably the second. Still, that didn’t explain why he texting the other and being as disappointed as he was that Eli had ignored him. Steve’s feelings for Eli had been bad enough before all this mess of Trolls and Creepslaying had happened back then he could just work it out by shoving him into lockers and whatnot. But now that they were working together, now that he was being nice to him, now that they were acting like friends together and Eli was constantly smiling and laughing and just being…himself, now Steve _knew_ he was in too deep.

   However that didn’t mean that he was going to turn back now. He was by no means going to give a dramatic declaration of his…whatever it was he felt, but he wasn’t going to let go of what these past four days had done either.

   “Still bored.” Steve commented; quiet enough so that Uhl the unforgiving wouldn’t hear him, looking over at Eli so he knew that he wasn’t just making the comment to himself.

   The look that the other gave him was almost comical and made Steve smile a bit with the way that Eli looked around the classroom before looking back at him and mouthing ‘me?’

   “No, actually I was talking to your pencil.” He deadpanned but smiled at the end. Although to be perfectly honest he was nervous about talking in class. But he had promised that he would try harder, for Eli. And those boys that had been messing with Eli on Monday didn’t take class with them.

   Eli snorted and shook his head. He looked at Steve like he had a question on the tip of his tongue but swallowed whatever he was going to ask. The blonde knew that it was going to be something along the lines of ‘Are you sure that you want to talk to me?’ or ‘What about the cover?’ and he hated himself for making Eli think that he would have to ask that but at the same time he was glad that Eli didn’t ask it and took that as a sign that he was doing better. “So what would make you less bored?”

   “Hearing about something that isn’t Spanish tenses. If I hear another ‘tu, yo, el, ella’, etcetera my head is going to explode.”

   “Me too, he is pretty repetitive on that subject isn’t he?” Eli pondered for a moment, chewing on his lip as he tried to think of something to talk about. “Did you know that rubbing a banana peel on a mosquito bite can help stop the itching?”

   Steve burst out laughing before covering his mouth with his hand to stifle it; Mr. Uhl glared at him but thankfully didn’t say anything as he continued with the lesson. He waited a moment before back over at Eli, a giggle still present in his voice. “What the hell Eli? What kind of a conversation starter is that?”

   “Well excuse me! I’m not good at conversations!” He whisper shouted.

   “You actually are when you’re not overthinking it or a bundle of nerves.” Steve replied. “Have you read any new books lately? I read this one called Gone by Michael Grant.” (Gone is kinda like X-Men)

   Eli’s face broke into a grin. “I’ve read that one!” he exclaimed (once again, whisper shouting so he wouldn’t invoke the wrath of Uhl). “Well I’ve read the series actually. How far along are you?”

   “Just finished the first book,” He admitted. “What’s your favourite character?”

   The conversation flowed naturally from there, switching from books to films they’ve seen recently, to television and what’s been going on in their lives. In the span of the class they caught up on everything they had missed about each other these past two years. By some miracle Uhl didn’t call them out or catch them as they softly laughed and joked and fell more. Both were surprised when the bell rang, the time going by in a flash. They hurried and collected their things and walked out of the classroom together and to the next one.

   “So what do you think today’s training will have? Blinky was telling me that today would be challenging.” Eli asked as they walked the halls, not noticing some of the gawkers looking at them, Steve had gotten much to accustomed to having his arm around Eli’s shoulder or having contact with him in some way, he hadn’t even realised that he had done so.

   “I’m sure that it’ll be easy. How hard could it be?”

 

 

    “You have _got_ to be kidding me.” Steve deadpanned, not sure that he had heard Blinky correctly or if the Troll was joking.

   “I assure you that I am not kidding you Sir Steve.” Blinky said before repeating what he had explained since the readers hadn’t heard what he had previously said. “Today you and young Eli are going to work on your coordination and communication skills. This will be done by tying you and Eli at the wrist and leaving you deep in the caves. Then you two will have to find your way back to the main cavern.”

   “This is a plan to kill us right? Because that’s what this sounds like, a plan to kill us.” Steve said.

    “You’re not going to die, I had Master Jim and Toby do something similar back in Troll Market in the battle arena when Jim was first starting out.” Blinky said, crossing his four arms.

   “How did they do?” Eli pipped up.

   “Er, that’s not important and besides this isn’t the battle arena. And thanks to Aargh’s sense acute sense of smell we’ll be able to locate you easily should you take too long. It’s completely fool proof.”

    “How long do we have to find our way back?” Eli asked, not completely opposed to the idea but wanting to know the details.

   “Sundown.” Aargh replied.

   “That sounds fair enough.” Eli said, nodding.

   “You can’t seriously be considering this?” Steve asked, incredulous.

   “You can consider fighting Aargh but not cave exploring?” he asked sarcastically.

   “That’s completely different.” The blond argued.

    “Come on Stevie, where’s your sense of adventure.” Eli prompted.

   Steve blinked a few times at the sudden nickname but sighed and rolled his eyes, his usual ‘no fucks given’ face back in place. “Fine, whatever, let’s go explore caves tied together, get eaten by bats and suffer a miserable death.”

   “Excellent!” Blinky chimed. “But first, we can’t have either of you seeing the route we’re taking so.” Two blindfolds appeared in his hands from seemingly nowhere.

   “Oh come on!” Steve groaned.

 

   It’s strange how being deprived of sight while robbing one of some senses enhanced others. While they lost their sense of knowing just how far they’ve walked they knew the terrain of the floor, knew every time they stumbled, pitching them forward in their own pitch black world. Such darkness so deep and extreme that they felt like they were drowning in emptiness, both exhilarating and terrifying. It was strange to think about. Eli was taking in as much as he could, smells, noises, any clues that might somehow lead them back. Steve on the other hand, kept wondering how much farther, how much father, how much farther… It felt as if they had been walking for decades even though in reality it hadn’t been even twenty minutes. Although it was kind of cool. He was pretty sure that he could hear every scuffle of a stone underneath his feet. There was a downside however. Remember how their senses are heightened somewhat? The blindfolds reeked.

   “How much farther is it David Bowie?” Steve asked after he couldn’t take it anymore and had to speak, surprising himself with how loud his voice sounded, echoey too.

    “Who is David Bowie?” Blinky asked, still leading the two down the tunnels. If his calculations were right they should be arriving to their destination any moment now.

   “Are you kidding me? David Bowie? Goblin king? Labyrinth? Oh god someone needs to introduce you to pop culture.” Steve groaned. “Anyway, how far is it? These rags stink.”

   “We’re already arriving.” Blinky informed, less than two minutes afterwards they stopped. “Alright then, time to tie you two together. Young Eli your left hand is going to be tied to Sir Steve’s right since you are left handed while he is right.” As he spoked Eli and Steve could feel said hands being grabbed and tied with a rope of some sort. “Now Aargh give them a spin.”

   “Huh?” Eli questioned before he felt a huge hand-Aargh’s- grab him and spin him as instructed as if he were lined up to try and break open a piñata. Except Aargh did it at about ten times the recommended spinning speed.

   Eli tripped over his own feet due to the motion and fell over, landing flat on his back and letting out an ‘oof!’ when something heavy crashed on top of him, knocking the air from his lungs. Right. He was tied to Steve. His fall had resulted in Steve falling as well, on top of him nonetheless.

    “Perhaps we should have tied them after spinning them.” Blinky noted.

    “You think?” Steve huffed, his voice coming out directly next to Eli’s ear, making the smaller male let out a small squeak that should not have sounded as adorable as it did. “Sorry about that Eli. You okay?” he asked, face flaring as he realized their closeness.

   “Y-yeah, I’m fine. A-are you alright?” Eli stammered; face an equal if not brighter shade of red. Neither could see the blush the other had.

   “Yeah.”

   “Great s-so um can you-” Eli held up his hands and pushed at what he thought might be Steve’s chest a bit. “maybe get off me?”

   “Pfft.” He snorted. “That’s my face you’re messing with Peppers.”

   “O-oh! Sorry!” he quickly apologized, removing his hands at once, placing them at his sides, although his left hand tugged at Steve’s right at the motion. Eli guessed that they had between one to two feet of rope between them. Not so bad considering but definitely limited their movement unless they coordinated and holy hell he had been grabbing Steve’s face.

   Steve sat up, carefully to not accidently knee the other or anything and he followed suite. Blinky waited for the two of them to sit up before speaking once more. “Wait one minute after you hear us leave before removing the blindfold.” He informed them in a stern voice.

   “Yes mister Blinky.” Eli said. Steve nodded in response.

   “Good luck.” Aargh rumbled before walking away with Blinky.

   Both of the Creepslayerz were certain that that was the longest minute of their lives. Steve’s wrist watch counted by each slow tick, the rhythmic sound filling the air around them, he counted the time in his mind as well. Steve wasn’t going to cheat, it wasn’t sportsmanlike. “The last time that I was blindfolded it was because my mom had told me that we were going to Disney but instead she took me to the dentist.” He remarked, trying to find something to say. Eli chuckled in response. “Ten seconds left.” Steve added.

   “Nine.”

   “We’re not doing a countdown.”

   “Spoilsport.” Eli remarked.

  And with that the last ten seconds were up. Eli felt his hand jerk upward and let out a small ‘ow’ in response. “Sorry, sorry.” Steve quickly apologized. “I somehow forgot that we were tied up. Let me get my blindfold off first and then I’ll get yours okay?”

   “Yeah sounds good.” Eli sighed in defeat, feeling his hand being moved around as Steve did as he said he would. His hand wasn’t completely up but it was weird how he was being made into a marionette none the less.

   “And done.” He announced. There was a moment’s pause. “Oh no.”

   “What’s an ‘oh no’ mean? I don’t like hearing ‘oh no’.” he asked, alarms going off in his head and starting to fret. Wordlessly Steve began untying his blindfold, making him a puppet once again. Once the cloth was removed from his face Eli blinked a few times to get used to the light and the surroundings before catching sigh of where they were. “Oh no.” he repeated.

    They were in a circle clearing somewhere down the tunnels, much like the main hall but smaller in size. Light streamed in from an opening in the ceiling, a natural skylight of sorts. It seemed ancient like no life had seen that place in an eternity and Eli felt out of place, almost as if he were trespassing on sacred ground. But it wasn’t that that had spurred the ‘oh no’s, no, what had done that was what surrounded the clearing. Tunnels. At least ten surrounding them, each one nearly identical. Dark nothings staring back at them, mocking them almost.

   Well shit.

    “No way.” Eli breathed, taking a step forward. He felt the same sense of awe as when he first entered the main hall, the same sense of wonder and respect. Plus a hint of fear of course. “So that’s why they had to spin us, to disorient us and make sure that we didn’t know which cave we originally-” he was cut off by the rope going taunt, almost making him lose his footing.

   “Sorry.” Steve apologized once more, walking next to him, the same wonder on his face plain as day. “How did Blinky and Aargh walk here, there’s sunlight?”

   He snapped his fingers. “They must have had umbrellas! I knew I felt something poking at my head, that also explains the changes in temperature I felt while walking. It had felt like sunlight but I hadn’t been sure.”

   “So which tunnel should we take Brainiac?” He asked, making a move to cross his arms but stopping when he remembered the rope.

   “Why are you asking me? My guess is about as good as yours.”

   “You’re the smart one and you know a lot about caves.” Steve replied with a shrug.

   “I don’t know _that_ much about caves. Okay so we entered this way I think…” Eli began, walking toward one of the caves to the right, Steve walked with him. “And then Aargh spun us…and we ended up facing that way.” He turned toward the caves behind them. “But Blinky’s voice came from this way after that.” He turned back toward the tunnels on the right. Steve had to keep readjusting himself lest Eli accidently tangle them in the rope. “So our best bet is one of these three.” Eli concluded, pointing to the three caves on their right.

    Steve let out a low whistle “Brilliant deduction Mr. Holmes.” He complimented. “How about we take the middle one?”

   Eli shrugged. “We might as well, no matter which of the three we take there’s a thirty-three point three three three three three three- I’ll stop now, you get what I’m trying to say.” He said before putting a hand into his pocket to get his glasses rag since the blindfold had smudged them terribly. Only he reached with the wrong had again taking Steve’s along with it. “S-sorry.” He stammered, hurriedly the rag out and cleaning his glasses, trying to not think about how he had just almost pulled the other’s hand into his pocket.

    “It’s fine.” He replied, waving it off.

  So after that bout of awkwardness and a chosen tunnel the Creepslayerz began walking down the middle right path. And they were only off from the correct tunnel by two.

 

 

    “Are you _sure_ that we’re not lost?” Steve asked for the eleventh-no wait twelfth- time as they walked. Eli had his headlight with him and there was an opening in the cave every so often so it’s not like it was terribly dark.

    “No, I’m not.” Eli said in exasperation.

   “You said that you were kind of sure the last time that I asked!”

   “The more times you ask, the less sure I get!” he replied matter of factly. “Next time bring some bread crumbs to make a trail.”

   “Oh you’re so cute when you’re sarcastic.” Steve deadpanned (although it was true-actually it wasn’t, he thought that Eli was cute no matter what. Not just cute, fucking beautiful, amazing-okay back to the story, got people lost in a cave waiting.)

   “Thank you kind sir.” Eli said with an eye roll, thanking whatever god was out there for the poor light that masked his slight blush. “Do you have any ideas?”

   “We could talk to pass the time while we walk, get lost, wait for sundown and for Aargh to rescue us. If he finds us before bats find us and eat us that is.” He suggested.

    “I’ve been working for ideas on how to improve the main hall.” He began. “There’s a lot of crystals here so I was thinking, ‘how about using some of their properties?’ For example there’s a lot of quartz here and that has a hardness of seven on the Mohs scale so it’s very durable. Plus it was electrical properties as well as heat resistance. If you squeeze a quartz it emits a tiny electrical charge, making it a tiny battery almost and-”

   “Wait seriously?” The blonde cut in before apologizing. “Sorry for cutting you off but seriously?”

    “You suggested that we talk to pass the time, that’s what I’m doing.” He replied as if it were the most obvious statement in the world.

   “This coming from the guy who’s sentence starter earlier was rubbing banana peels on a mosquito bite can help stop the itching?” Steve pointed out.

   “You remembered didn’t you? And excuse me for being awkward.” He said with a laugh. “And I thought that this would be a good topic, considering how we’re in a cave and I have ways to modify it for the Trolls.”

   “Fine, go ahead. How much have you planned?” He asked, even though knowing him Eli probably had the whole thing planned out including sketches and whatnot.

   “Here’s a hint,” Eli answered looking over at him momentarily. “I’m already working on blueprints.”

    “Called it.” Steve murmured fondly.

   “Huh?”

   “Nothing, just that that seems very…Eli-like. Nerdy and all that.” He explained awkwardly, not knowing quite how to put it.

   “Hm.” Eli hummed thoughtfully. “So if I was to go on and say that I’ve already catalogued most of the crystal types that there are in the main hall that would be Eli-like? Or after that I wrote down the majority of the crystal properties from memory?”

   “Very Eli-like.” He agreed, pausing before continuing with his next thought. “I hope that we can see Troll Market someday soon.”

   “Me too, I mean Blinky was telling me about the Heartstone and I’d love to see how that works, with how he described it, it almost seems like it’s alive. Oh and I want to see how they grow things there with no sunlight. Also how everything connects to Arcadia and so on.”

   ‘No you dunce,’ Steve thought, shaking his head. ‘I want to see you there, your face already lights up in this musty old cave but if you ever went there I’m sure that you’d be over the moon over there, running around and cataloguing and doing all those things that you love doing and your face would be all lit up and shit. And I’d be perfectly happy just watching you like that.’

   “S-Steve you know that I’m awkward enough with c-conversations already so don’t go and say things like _that_. I have no idea how to answer that.” Eli stuttered with an awkward laugh, looking to the ground, and holy shit Steve could _see_ how bright Eli’s ears and face were even with the impaired lighting. And holy shit he had said _that_ out loud! Before Steve could give some kind of answer Eli’s head snapped back up, eyes narrowing as something seemed to call his attention. “Wait do you hear that?”

   ‘You mean something other than the amount of awkwardness in the air?’ Steve thought, yes this time he actually thought before speaking. “No?” he replied right before he did hear something. It was faint, but there was a faint trickling noise.

    “It’s some kind of body of water.” The other informed him, picking up the pace which tugged on the rope somewhat.

   “Or we’re about to walk in on some kind of giant taking a leak.” He said, giving a mental fist pump when Eli laughed because damn he was never going to get tired of that lovely sound.

    Gradually the tunnel became lighter and lighter, making it easier to see, the path became smoother as well, less gravel and rocks giving way to smooth stone. And then lo and behold, they reached the light at the end of the tunnel and for a brief moment as they stepped out of the tunnel they thought that they were back in the main hall. As if. Instead they were in front of a huge underground pool. Seriously, it looked as if it was the size of an Olympic swimming pool or something if not bigger. It looked like it lead outside from some kind of opening underwater with how light streamed in, making the water shimmer. Also there was a huge opening high up above it, which would allow rain to enter and refill it should it get empty. That explained why the floor leading there was so smooth. But the sight.

   The sight of it.

    It was the definition of gorgeous. Stalactites growing out from the ceiling like elegant chandeliers and stalagmites growing out of the ground as if trying to meet them. The sun, still bright in the afternoon, making the water glisten wonderfully. And the water…the water was the most perfect shade of blue-aqua ever, a colour that one couldn’t even dream of existing. Multi-coloured stones littered the cavern floor. The whole place screamed beauty and how long it had been since anyone had been there, if anyone ever had.

   Fumbling with his right hand Eli turned off his headlight, taking in the view, breath caught in his chest. No matter how many times he had been surprised this week with meeting the Trolls, entering the cavern, learning the Troll’s history, he was still surprised by every single thing that he saw, wondering how many more treasures this cavern had. “It’s…it’s beautiful. Just…wow.”

   Steve nodded in agreement, as if speaking would shatter what was in front of them like a stained glass window. But he had to speak after a moment. “Do you want to go for a swim?”

   “What?!” he screeched, before flinching like a child that had been scolded and lowering his voice to a whisper. “We can’t swim here, we have to get back.”

    “Eli you know as well as I do that we’re lost, don’t even try to argue with me about that, we’re lost. Period. So we can keep wandering the caves until sunset or…” he nodded toward the spring in front of them.

   “I don’t have a bathing suit.” Eli protested meekly.

   “Does it look like I have one, besides you brought your Creepslayer getup didn’t you? Just change into that once we’re done. You don’t have to if you don’t want to of course, I’m not going to force you to go into the water or anything.”

    “I…” he hesitated once more before smiling. “Yeah. Let’s do it. So shoes off I guess. That’s going to be tricky with the rope.”

   “I’m up for a challenge.” Steve replied with a shrug, plopping onto the floor and causing Eli to stumble and sit down too, he almost landed on top of him but hey who’s paying attention to things like that. He began to undo the cords of his shoes and slipped them off along with the socks before going to do the same with the other.

   “I can take off my own shoes.” Eli mumbled as Steve took off his shoes before saying a soft “thanks.” The blonde gave a nod in response, placing the shoes and socks next to his own. “I have to check my pockets to make sure that there’s nothing there so um…yeah.”

    “I don’t bite.” He promised, trying to keep his hand at a respectable distance as Eli patted himself down. He found only his phone and the rag he used to clean his glasses and set them with the shoes along with the headlight. “Right then, that wasn’t too awkward hm?” he rolled up his pant legs up to the knees and stood up, helping Eli up as well. “Shall we?”

   Eli gave him a nod, not saying anything right away but the bright gleam in his eyes spoke volumes. “Don’t let me fall; I’m not exactly an ace swimmer.”

   “Don’t worry about it, just trust me.” Steve reassured gently, walking to the underground lake with him.

   “I do.” He said almost automatically, face a pretty rose colour.

    Steve’s steps faltered momentarily when the other said that and upon seeing his face because fuck Eli had no idea what he was doing to him did he? And on the very rare chance that he did then that would make Eli a very, very, cruel person. Steve was falling even more for him with every passing moment and was finding it harder and harder to resist the temptation to kiss him. Especially now when they were so close together, it would be so easy to grab onto that rope, pull him toward him and kiss off that surprised face that Eli would be sure to have. Instead he stopped right at the waters’ edge, turned around and grabbed both of Eli’s hands, bound and unbound, in his own. “Okay nerd now try not to fall and take me down with you.” He teased.

    “I won’t.” Eli said with an eye roll and a smile, face growing hotter. God, Steve’s hands were so warm. Was it normal to notice a thing like that? Said blonde began to walk backwards into the water, pulling him along with him and giving his hands a reassuring squeeze. He let out a small yelp when his feet hit the water, breaking out in goose bumps. “It’s kinda cold.” He said, a shiver running up his spine.

   “It’ll pass.” He said, not disagreeing with the statement because hey it was true. “I thought that these things were supposed to be warm.”

   “It depends, not all underground springs are hot springs.”

    Steve continued walking backwards until the water reached the just under Eli’s shorts. There was no sudden drop or anything, the bottom of the lake just continued in a smooth decline. He looked at Eli expectantly, silently asking if this was alright. The smaller boy had already stopped his slight shivering, getting used to the water’s temperature fairly easily. Eli gave him a smile before sitting down in the shallow water, submerging himself completely (except for his left arm which he kept above water so he wouldn’t pull Steve down) before coming back up just as fast, spluttering and grinning from ear to ear, wet hair plastered to his face. “This is awesome!” he laughed.

   “What the hell, Eli!?” Steve laughed, steadying the other who wobbled slightly, the wet clothes weighing him down a bit and throwing him slightly off balance.

   “I had to do it before I changed my mind!” Eli explained through his giggles, bending down and splashing the blonde in the face.

    “Why you little-!” he tugged on the rope, moving them deeper into the lake before returning the splash, laughing all the while. The water now reached to their torsos. “You’re going to pay for that!”

   “Oh yeah Stevie? Take that!” He declared dramatically that being the only warning he gave before actually fucking _tackling_ Steve, catching the other off guard and sending both of them underwater momentarily before they came back up gasping for air before bursting into a fit of laughter. “S-sorry! I don’t know what came over me!” he apologized between giggles.

   “It’s fine, dork.” Steve chuckled, shaking his head like a wet dog and pushing his hair away from his face. “Ah remind me to thank Jim for talking us into this.” He sighed happily, floating in the water.

   Eli looked at him for a moment before floating as well. “This kind of reminds me of otters, they hold hands to keep from floating away from each other while they sleep.” He said absentmindedly, pulling the rope a bit to prove his point. “It’s like that.”

   “Hm, that’s true.” He agreed, eyes shut as he let the warm sunshine fall over him from the skylight. “But it’s not exactly like that,” he continued, looking by feel for Eli’s hand, grabbing it when he did. “now it is.” He said nonchalantly even as his heart threatened to thud out of his chest.

   The other made a noise of surprise and froze for a second before relaxing once more. “True but if you fall asleep I’m dunking you underwater.”

   “Back at you.”

   They floated around lazily for some time, just enjoying each other’s company and warmth, enjoying the serenity of the place. Funny wasn’t it? How it doesn’t matter what they’re doing, play fighting, talking, or just quietly holding each other’s hands, how the enjoyed each other’s presence nonetheless. During this Eli allowed his mind to wander. He knew that they were training and he knew that Blinky was doing his best to teach them but would it make any difference when they actually fought Gunmar? He’s heard the stories, knew all the legends and lore’s surrounding him but how did it compare to actual meeting him? He had asked Jim, Blinky, Aargh, Toby, Claire, and they all said the same thing in their own versions. And they had met him when he was weakened, now he had the power of the Heartstone, so what would it be like now?

    And the training, what would happen when this week was up? Would Steve want to keep coming here? Eli definitely did without a doubt in his mind. But would his teammate feel the same? Would they fall into the same rut again of arguing? Steve _had_ been forgetting about their cover lately, purposely or not, he had been. Was he reading too much into that? Did Steve want him to read into it? He mentally groaned. Why the hell was his mind like this? Why when he was in this paradise with the person he cared for the most were these thoughts floating around his head? Eli supposed like it was just a way of keeping things balanced, like adding a bit sour to sweet, the way you add salt when you’re baking a cake. It made sense, but he just wished that his mind could just let him have this moment and take a vacation. He squeezed Steve’s hand once more; as if it were the only thing keeping him rooted and scrunched his eyes shut in a hope that that would somehow turn his brain off.

   “Are you alright?” Steve murmured, looking at him concernedly.

   “Just thinking.” He replied quietly before smiling wearily. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

   “You’re thinking about Gunmar aren’t you? And about what’s going to happen when the week’s over.”

   “How’d you know?” Eli asked meekly, ashamed that it had been so easy to figure out.

   “Lucky guess,” He had been thinking about the same thing, since the training first started in fact. “I mean how are we not going to think about that? It’s the main reason why we’re here, Jim, Toby and Claire seem to be stressed out of their minds and I’m pretty sure that it’s not just cause of Gunmar. No one knows what’s going to happen but I have your back. And as for what’s happening after the week is up I don’t know about that either but I do want to continue coming here with you.”

   “I do too.” He agreed, giving a sigh of relief. So he hadn’t been the only one that had been worried.

   “So, since we’re on the same page about that,” Steve continued. “I have to ask you a question. Monday, what you said at lunch…did you really use to be afraid of me?”

   Eli froze, the water suddenly ice cold, dread and guilt blooming in the pit of his stomach. “Steve…” he began, not able to get any more than that out.

   “I won’t be angry Eli, just…please.” He said, almost pleading, his eyes soft and sad, regret painting his face.

   “I…I was. I mean, you were pretty intimidating and you did shove me in lockers so I was wary of you. But Steve I shouldn’t have said what I said on Monday. I was angry and you didn’t deserve that.”

   “Eli, I was going to find out eventually. I mean I knew that I intimidated you and all that but I never stopped to think that you were actually scared.” He sighed heavily. “I just don’t get close to people because of that whole mess with my dad. He would put my mom down, break her self-esteem and after seeing that I _swore_ that I would never be like that but I did. And what’s worse is just like my dad I did it to someone that means a lot to me. Except my dad obviously didn’t care about my mom.”

   “There’s another difference, you’re trying to fix it, he didn’t.” Eli pointed out gently. “And…look we have our issues, who doesn’t? But we’re working through them. It’s working, I’m not afraid of you anymore.”

   “Yeah we’re fucked up.” Steve agreed with a snort. “Now I’m glad that I didn’t punch the shit out of Jack, David and Will on Monday, me wailing on them definitely would have scared you.”

   “Wait what? You what?”

   “I was really pissed off, Eli. I would have beaten them up but that would have made things worse for both of us so I got Coach instead. Didn’t you-”

    Steve was cut off by Eli jolting so fast, as if he were trying to sit up but yeah they were in water so no, instead he fell under the waters’ surface the rope throwing Steve off balance as well. They weren’t in shallow water anymore but they popped back up after a second, coughing as they cleared the water from their airwaves.

   “What the hell, warn me next time!” Steve coughed before swimming back to the shallower part of the lake, pulling Eli along with him. They sat on the shore, feet still in the water but the rest of them sitting on dry land. “Now what caused you to spazz out?”

   “You went to get Coach? You-you didn’t-I thought-you got Coach?” Eli stammered.

   “Yes? That’s why I left, he told me that he spoke with Jack, David, and Will but that you weren’t anywhere to be found. What did you think happened?”

   “I…I thought that you had left me, that you had just abandoned me.” He admitted, looking at the ground.

   “Of course I didn’t abandon you! I just went to get someone who could handle the situation better, Coach made them clean the gym. Wait so that’s why you were mad!” Steve said, realization dawning on his face. “I thought that you knew that Coach had dealt with them and that you were mad that I didn’t defend your honour myself!”

   “And you were angry because you thought that I was ignoring you for that!” Eli groaned, facepalming before laughing. “’Didn’t defend your honour’?” he repeated with a giggle.

   “Shut up dork, I was trying to be poetic. So Monday’s mess was just a huge misunderstanding?”

   “Seems like it, I guess Blinky was right about communication being important.”

    “Hm I guess so,” Steve hummed in agreement. “But if we had never had that fight on Monday then we wouldn’t be here right now.”

   “That’s…one way of looking at it. But like you said, we’re messed up.” Eli laughed. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Even with all that we have going on we’re a great team, partners in crime.”

   “Hell yeah we are. And Eli, just so we’re clear I would _never_ abandon you okay? Never.”

    Eli gave a nod and sighed, resting his head on the other’s shoulder, moving closer to his warmth. “I wouldn’t either, you know that Stevie.” He picked up on of the colourful stones next to him and awkwardly attempted to skip it across the water with his right hand. It gave two skips before sinking.

   They made it into a game, seeing who could get the most skips since they couldn’t use their primary hand. Eli was in the lead with seven skips, although he was sure that it had been eight Steve insisted that it was seven. The most Steve had gotten so far was five skips. The game quickly got more competitive with one yanking on the rope to throw the other off and vice versa which lead to another bout of splashing and play fighting in the water. Sunset came far quicker than expected, the golden rays mixed with purples and pinks flooding in from the skylight, the view exquisite. Sunsets happened every day, it was a given thing, a law of nature, yet neither could deny that it was the best sunset that they had ever seen with Eli leaning against Steve as they sat on the shore, hand in hand and not saying a word about it.

   It just felt right.

    Steve swallowed, throat suddenly feeling dry as he looked down at the one on his shoulder who gave him a bright but exhausted smile that made his stomach fill with those pesky butterflies. _‘Eat the butterflies. No butterflies, no worries.’_ He remembered Aargh saying. He felt dizzy, lightheaded and full of energy all at the same time. “Hey, Eli.” He quickly forced before he could change his mind, throat feeling tight.

   “Yeah, Steve?” he asked, looking up at him with that goddamn face that should be illegal. Bathed in the lights of the setting sun, clothes soaked and clinging to his small frame, hair stuck to his face, cheeks rosy and eyes positively twinkling and just looking like damn Eli.

   “Can…” he swallowed once more, feeling like he was going to faint or something. ‘Just do it!’ his mind screamed, his heart screamed, his whole body screamed. “C-can…Can I k-”

   “There you two are!” Blinky exclaimed, appearing out of nowhere with Aargh, the sun was already low enough that it didn’t hit them directly.

   Steve grit his teeth and looked away to Blinky and Aargh who had to show up at that exact moment, not even hiding the fact that he was glaring at them. Of course Eli couldn’t see his face from where he was. Blinky just looked confused, after all why would Steve be upset, they had come to find them at sunset as promised. Aargh on the other hand knew exactly why he was pissed.

   “Did you eat them?” the large Troll asked curiously. (He means did Steve eat the butterflies, pervs) The blonde groaned and facepalmed. Aargh, buddy, not the best choice of words right there. Aargh took Steve’s reaction as a no.

 

   Blinky spent the next half hour (at least that’s what it felt like) lecturing them of what they had done wrong. Mostly he just chided them about how they wasted the whole training time by staying in that location and how they spent the time playing around and goofing off. However it wasn’t all just reprimanding, he praised them on the way they were able to communicate and get along without any problems. But the most surprising thing that Blinky said was how they didn’t have to stay tied up the whole time. Apparently taking off the rope would have been acceptable. “Do whatever is necessary to succeed on the battlefield as long as it doesn’t endanger you or others unnecessarily.” He had told them. But even more surprising then that was that neither Eli nor Steve had even thought about taking the rope even once. In fact when Blinky removed the cord they were left with a phantom sensation of sorts, they had gotten used to feeling the slight tug on their wrists and still walked close together as if they were still joined.

   “What a day.” Eli sighed during the ride back, taking in the scenery more than usual. Whenever he rode with Steve on the Vespa he was always counting down the minutes until he would be home, desperate to be out of Steve’s hair, his mind constantly telling him that he was just being an annoyance. But for once those little demons of anxiety were quiet, allowed him to enjoy himself without worrying about things like that. And he actually found himself wishing that the ride would last longer.

    Steve almost didn’t hear him, the wind tended to snatch away words when they were riding, making conversation difficult. “Yeah, funny, I didn’t expect training to be so fun.” He admitted. He almost felt as if he was still floating.

    “Me either.” He agreed. “I expected Blinky to be angrier.”

   “Me too, but hey let’s not jinx it. He might give us something really tough for tomorrow.” Steve pointed out, frowning when he realized that they were already at Eli’s house.

   Eli groaned. “Oh I hope not. We were lucky to get out of the first day unscathed.” He hopped off the Vespa ad shouldered his backpack. As Steve had suggested they had changed into their Creepslayer uniform and he had his wet clothes bunched up in a plastic bag in his backpack. Turns out that Steve always carried his Creepslayer getup in his backpack just like he did. “I uh I had fun today.” He said, feeling silly for echoing what the other had said. “Thanks for talking me into swimming.”

   “You know I’m always here to talk you into bad decisions.” Steve said with a smirk.

   He flushed a bit before smiling as well. “Well anyway…bye, I’ll see you tomorr-oh I almost forgot! What were you going to ask?”

   “What was I going to ask when?”

   “Before Blinky and Aargh showed up, you were going to ask me something.” Eli elaborated.

   “I-” Steve paled a shade or two, remembering just what he had been planning on asking. “I uh I was going to ask…I was going to ask where did the whole ‘Stevie’ thing come from.” He lied, pleased that he had been able to come up with a lie so quickly and at the same time he wanted to throw himself into a well for being such an idiot.

   “Huh, what do you mean?” Now it was Eli’s turn to be confused, he coked his head to the side quizzically.

   “You called me Stevie a few times today.” He explained, sighing a breath of relief that Eli didn’t find anything fishy about the question;

    “Oh! I-I did? Sorry, I really didn’t mean to, I mean I didn’t even realize that I was calling you t-that. Um but if you don’t like it…”

   “It’s fine Eli, don’t stress it. Besides I heard that Jim and Claire are calling Toby T.P so in comparison ‘Stevie’ is a lot better. See you tomorrow, night Eli.”

   “Good night...S-Stevie.” Eli stammered, waving goodbye and walking toward the house, face aflame; too bad that he didn’t notice that Steve’s face was red as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY!!!! THEY"RE FINALLY TALKING!!! (Let's see how I fuck this up) Like yes my children, fucking communicate. Nothing like being lost in caves to talk. Now of course what happened on Monday isn't the only issue they have, bad communication, assumptions, the goddamn COVER. Yes it was momentarily ditched for a bit but that's because Steve was caught up in the moment, like when he put his arm around Eli in that episode of Trollhunters during gym class. So yeah.  
> Please, please, please tell me what you think. I really really loved writing this chapter, one of my favourites so far. Where do you guys think the Stevie thing came from? I mean I'll explain it later on but I want to know what y'all think.  
> Oh and I'm sooooo not sorry for cutting of that kiss XD One thing you should know about me and when I write fanfictions: I'm the biggest cockblock ever.  
> Please don't hurt me! *flees with tea and avocados*


	7. You'll Be Alright...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eli laughed, an actual real laugh that warmed Steve and made him smile before said laugh melted into a pained whimper. “Ssh, almost over, almost over.” Steve shushed, working as quickly as he could. Eli scrunched his eyes shut, his lips pressed into a thin line. He would have said ow but he knew that if he did, he wasn’t going to be satisfied with just saying a simple little ow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda long...Oops. I try not to do really long chapters but I could NOT cut this in two.  
> (That summary though ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Pffffftttt Excuse me while I laugh my fucking ass off. I just used a Lenny face like what the fuck XD)

    Eli and Steve were both on cloud nine, butterflies in the stomach, the whole deal. The subtle touches, the way they stared at one another when the other wasn’t looking, the slight blushes, could they be any more obvious? Even Jim, Claire or Toby didn’t know what to make of it. After all, just Monday they had been yelling at each other at the lunch table but misunderstandings had been resolved. They didn’t have a perfect relationship by no means as such a thing didn’t exist but they had a better comprehension of each other’s feelings. What more could be asked for? They were both working through things together, one of them being the whole ‘cover’ issue which had pretty much gone out the window (during class at least). Eli knew that Steve was worried about his reputation even if the blonde wasn’t showing it. Or maybe Steve actually didn’t care about that anymore. The thought of that made Eli heart swell…and also terrified him. He would have loved to go see Steve work out during his track meet but didn’t for two reasons. One, he didn’t want to seem like a weirdo for staring and two, he might run into we all know who.

    Even though Jack, David and Will hadn’t shown up around Eli since Monday he was still wary. The normal students had already gotten used to Steve and Eli’s friendship that had shown up (to the onlookers) out of nowhere but Eli knew that it was only a matter of time till the bullies showed up once more. At least it was Friday, then came the weekend and he never saw the bullies on the weekend. Oh well, nice that they had the common curtesy of allowing him two days to recuperate from their taunting and locker shoves. Real bullies with class, ladies and gentlemen (and gentle-others).

   Anyway, back to something that isn’t those assholes, Eli was practically buzzing with excitement. He had brought his journal with him, the one where he passed all supernatural related notes to, where he sketched various monsters that he’d seen and where he had written and sketched ideas on how to improve the cavern where the Trolls resided. The same sketches and ideas that he had been discussing with Steve the day before.

  He had planned on showing them to him at lunchtime (he didn’t want to risk showing them during class lest some noisy teacher see them and ask questions) but he had completely forgotten that Steve had a track meeting today during lunch hour. Ah well, for now he would just show them to Jim, Claire, and Toby, flushing in embarrassment as they praised his ideas.

   “This is almost like how Troll Market worked.” Claire exclaimed in amazement, eyes lighting up.

   “T-thanks, I based this on what Blinky had told me about that place and with the different crystals that there are down there, plus how everything would tie together with the environment.” Eli explained.

   “Geez Eli how do you even find the time to do all this?” Jim asked incredulous because the poor Trollhunter never had spare time for anything.

   “Uh sometimes I work on it while Blinky’s talking and then I just pass it to this notebook and just a lot of caffeine.” Eli admitted with a laugh. “I would do anything for a monster’s energy.”

   “Anything huh? Better not tell that to Steve.” Toby said with a sly smile before letting out an ‘ow’ as Jim or Claire, probably both, kicked him in the shins from underneath the table.

   “Huh? I don’t-oh!” he shouted, understanding what the other was implying. “It’s not-that’s not-we’re just teammates!” he stammered, doing a fantastic job of convincing them, Eli cleared his throat awkwardly before pointing to one of the sketches which showed the main hall. “I-uh estimate that there’s a hundred Trolls more or less, probably less so this is basically just showing the dispersing of space that there would be.”

   The group stifled their laughter at Eli’s brilliant spazz out and went along with the not so subtle subject change. “So, so far everything’s been alright with Blinky?” Jim asked.

   And Eli went into another nerd out that only someone like Blinky would be able to comprehend.

 

   P.E is hell; this could not be stressed enough. True Eli could keep up much better now but it was still hell. The running in circles, the continuous predictable cycle, let him do his own thing and he could guarantee that he would do much better. Or at least put some music on as motivation for fuck’s sake. But no, he was stuck in the cruddy indoors gym with only the sound of sneakers thudding and laboured breath to treat his ears. Well there was also Steve who would mumble encouragements to him whenever he passed by. Okay maybe it wasn’t all _that_ bad.

   Plus the coach wasn’t yelling at him as much since he had improved. But it was getting close to summer break which meant that any day now Coach Lawrence was going to break out his favourite torture method-er exercise routine, Survivor. How does one describe Survivor…hm something along the lines of ‘fuck it this is no longer gym class from hence forth you all just arrived at boot camp, level so hard that it made Chuck Norris cry’. The thought made Eli snicker, thanking his overactive mind for at least providing commentary.

   “If you’re able to smile Pepperjack then you’re able to go faster!” Lawrence called.

   Eli sighed and gave a little salute as he smiled even wider, looking down to hide it as he amped up the speed of his jumping jacks.

    After completing the warm up exercises Lawrence gave them a minute to catch their breath before they would move on to whatever activity they had planned for today. For once Eli didn’t think that he would be totally pummelled if that activity was dodgeball. He went over to the bleachers and sat down with a sigh, wiping the thin mask of sweat from his forehead, immediately perking up when Steve came over to join him.

   “Hey you did great.” Steve said, slinging an arm over his shoulder casually.

   “Thanks but you did better, I mean you already had a track meeting today at noon and you were still able to keep up.”

   “Would it kill you to take a compliment without turning it around on me?” he said with a groan and an eye roll, grinning all the while.

   Eli gave an eye roll of his own. “Well excuse me for being awkward with compliments and conversations and everything necessary to socially function.”

   “Did you…did you just _sass_ me?”

   “And if I did?” Eli asked, having one of his little confidence bursts that usual came with doing exercise and running around. He had no idea what he was doing but it was fun.

   “Are you-? Forget it now, why were you so jumpy all damn-oh fuck.” He clapped a hand over his mouth, checking to see if the Coach had heard him; Lawrence had this thing about swearing. As much as he was weirded out by the fact that his coach and his mother were dating Steve still respected the man and whatever laws he laid down. “Why were you so jumpy all morning?”

   “It’s a surprise.” Eli replied brightly, even though he was a touch embarrassed that Steve had noticed his giddiness. He really could not wait to show Steve his work, especially since the other had found it so interested when he spoke about it yesterday.

   “Are you kidding me? Can I at least have a hint?” Steve pried, curiosity biting at him smartly.

   “Nope.” Eli answered.

   “Oh come on! Please?”

   “I said no.”

   “Eli, you nerd, tell me.” Steve asked, using his ‘Listen to me for I am in command’ voice.

   “You have to wait.” Eli said firmly.

   They had a staring contest for a grand total of ten seconds before Steve sighed in defeat, leaning back on his seat and removing his arm from Eli’s shoulder to point at said person in accusation. “ _You_ are a tease.” He informed him.

   “Stevie, you have no idea.” Eli said, unconsciously smirking.

   Steve flushed a bit at that before donning a smirk as well even though his mind was yelling ‘shit’ a million times per second. “Then why don’t-”

   “Palchuk! Pepperjack! The game is dodgeball and you two are team captains!” Lawrence called and Steve was just about convinced that the entire universe hated him. He was also just about convinced that the next time that Coach came over to his house there was going to salt in the ice cubes.

   To call what happened on the gym after that a ‘dodgeball game’ would be a massive underplay. It was a battlefield as were all dodgeball games but it was different when the generals (captains) knew each other’s moves. Eli knew that Steve would cop out a fake throw before throwing the ball for real and Steve knew that Eli actually had very good reflexes. Mary got (from Eli’s team) out embarrassingly quick, Sharon (also on Eli’s team) followed soon afterwards. A few others got knocked out as well, sitting on the bleachers to either talk or watch the game. Eli marked out the big threats on Steve’s team to be Claire and Toby as well as said captain. He had been lucky enough to snag Jim, Darci wasn’t half bad either.

      Soon it was just Claire, Jim, Toby, Steve and Eli left. Darci had gotten out by Toby accidently hitting her; he swore that he had been aiming for Jim. It was actually fun, much better than just running around in laps and doing jumping jacks and for once Eli wasn’t having his ass handed to him. The moves he used where incredible, ducking and weaving in a way that almost appeared like ballet, fluid, powerful and beautiful. And very effective.

    When he moved to the side to avoid being hit by a ball curtesy of Claire (who had a scary good throwing arm) Toby threw one at him. Eli grabbed the ball, did a spin that could have been called a pirouette and threw it back to s shocked Toby, hitting him square in the stomach. There were some claps and cat calls at that, all of them obviously surprised.

  “Sorry!” Eli immediately apologized.

  “It’s cool.” Toby groaned, giving him a thumbs up. “Nice shot.” The game paused momentarily as he got off of the court but resumed immediately after he was out of the way. And then there were four.

  It was stuck like that for the rest of the game; at least it would have been if Steve and Claire hadn’t teamed up against Jim. When Jim was dodging a throw from Claire Steve had thrown a ball immediately thrown a ball at him after, narrowly catching his shoulder but it count either way.

   Jim gave a dramatic gasp and put a heart to his chest in mock hurt. “Claire how could you?” he asked in a pained voice. “Teaming up with my sworn enemy.” How much of a dork was this guy? Claire chuckled and waved a pouting Jim off the court.

   And now Eli was outnumbered. Fan-fucking-tastic. Eli would like to leave his books to Blinky, his computer to Claire, his limited ‘weapons’ to Toby, Jim could get that little theory billboard on his wall, Steve could have his idea notebook, and he would donate his body to science. If it isn’t obvious: Eli’s planning his will.

   He spent the next few minutes just dodging, sweat dripping from him. How much was left of this goddamn class anyway? Maybe he could stop now, no one would blame him, he was tired. And then miracles of miracles happened, the others ran out of balls. They were now all on his side. So he had a choice now, throw one and hope to hit one of them but risk giving them ammunition or awkwardly stare at them until the end of class.

   “Pepperjack make a move!” Lawrence shouted from the side-lines making him flinch. The crowd also gave a few cheers of encouragement. No pressure.

    Eli picked up one of the balls directly in front of him, reeled his arm back and threw it as hard as he could. It missed Steve and Claire by a mile, going over their heads. Eli smiled and crossed his arms, waiting.

   Steve gave him a puzzled look before his eyes widened in understanding. “Behind!” he bellowed, spinning around and narrowly missing the ball. Claire wasn’t so lucky. It bounced off the wall directly behind him and hit her in the arm.

   “That doesn’t count!” She protested.

   “I’ll allow it.” Lawrence said, clearly impressed by how clever Eli had been, he wasn’t the only one, the class was in an uproar, fully immersed in the game as it was now between two players. Claire gave a smile to Eli, mentally saying ‘nice shot’ before joining Jim and Toby on the bleachers. Now if you were anyone other than Steve, Jim, Eli, Toby, and Claire you would naturally assume that Steve would naturally win. But after seeing how Eli had played this whole time no one really knew what the outcome would be.

   “That was actually really smart of you.” Steve praised, not yet making a move to continue the game.

  “Thank you kind sir, you of all people should know better than to underestimate me.” Eli replied with a bow.

   “Oh I’ve learned better than to do that.” He said with a smirk. “Why don’t you show me what you’ve got?”

   “Enough Banter! Play the game!” Coach shouted, blowing his whistle to make a point.

   Steve rolled his eyes, Lawrence was definitely getting salt in his drink next time he went over to his house, picked up the ball that had been thrown at Claire and held it, waiting to see what Eli’s next move would be.

   Eli wasn’t exactly sure of what to do, he couldn’t do that ricochet shot again, Steve would see it coming, and Steve was a pretty good dodger so it wouldn’t be wise to throw at him directly. Oh to hell with it, Lawrence was going to yell if they didn’t start playing soon and there wasn’t much time left of class yet. And this was the last class of the day so after this they would get to chill out with a nice little Vespa ride to the Arcadia Mountains. He picked up one of the many balls on his side of the court and threw it at his teammate.

   He dodged it rather than catch it and mentally facepalmed for that decision, he should have caught that! Even if he wasn’t as technical as Eli Steve was still trying to work out some kind of strategy. So far he had zip. The other had somehow donned the lithe of a jungle cat and the agility of a cheetah. Throw it and risk it being caught or not throw and risk being hit?

   While Steve was thinking Eli threw another ball, startling him out of his thoughts and making him spring into action. This one was aimed at his legs so he wouldn’t have been able to catch it even if he wanted to. Damn nerd, he thought jumping to the side and almost losing his balance. Eli took this chance to throw another one at him; Steve actually felt it pass him.

   “Come on don’t get distracted Steve.” Eli laughed. “Hit me with your best shot.”

   “Fire away!” Steve yelled, throwing a dodgeball at him. Eli barely avoided it with how hard he was laughing. God he was such a dork.

   The stupidest thing happened after that. They both threw a ball simultaneously; the balls ricocheted off each other and almost hit both of them at the same time. There were some cheers from the audience along with some groans because damn that would have been funny to watch. They smiled deviously at each other, telepathically telling each other the same thing ‘This is it!’ They both rushed forward, picked up a ball, winding their arms back and –

   A shrill whistle broke through the air “Class is over, get your things and get out!” Lawrence informed the class. The groan that emanated from the whole group was deafening. Steve and Eli gave each other a bright, tired but still bright, smile.

   “ _That,_ was awesome.” Steve said in amazement, jogging over and giving the other a high five. “How did you learn to move like that?”

   “Don’t you remember Monday?” Eli laughed. “I got moves that you couldn’t even _dream_ of.” Along with a few years of ballet that he had taken when he was younger that he didn’t dare to mention. True, Eli was pretty klutzy but when he got his head in the game…

  ‘Oh don’t bet on that.’ He said silently. “Sure you do, dork.” He said instead with an eye roll.

   “Steve, I need your help with the equipment!” Coach Lawrence called, causing said person to facepalm.

   “I forgot that he likes to do inventory on Fridays!” Steve groaned. “He likes having me help out as ‘bonding time’. Listen can please just change out of your gym clothes and wait for me outside? I’ll only take a minute I swear.” He asked hopefully.

   “Of course I will, you’re my ride after all. Plus I still have that surprise to show you.” Eli reminded in a sing song voice.

   “Oh sh-snap I had forgotten about that! Why do you torture me like this you nerd?” Steve asked, almost pouting. “Plus I don’t think I can be any more surprised after _that_ that you just did on the court. It was just…dang.” He said, his brain not providing him with the words to describe it right away. “Poetic, poetry in movement.” He concluded.

   Eli flushed at the compliment, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “Thanks…I’m uh going to go change now. Don’t keep me waiting for too long.”

   “I’ll try not to.” Steve promised, watching as Eli went to the locker room to change. You know that whole thing of ‘I hate seeing you go but love to watch you leave’ thing? Yeah he now knew exactly what they meant by that. The way that the sweaty shirt clung to Eli’s small but sinful frame, showing off the slight muscles he had, when did he get those?, the gym shorts showing off the pale flawless skin of his legs, well flawless for now but if he ever got the chance to damn they wouldn’t be.

   Lawrence cleared his throat from behind Steve making him jump, face blooming rose red as he turned around to face him. Busted.

 

     Eli paced anxiously at the back of the school waiting for Steve to join him; the blonde had made it a habit to park his Vespa in the back. ‘I’ll only take a minute’ my ass. Ah well, he couldn’t blame Lawrence for wanting to spend time with what might be his future step-son. Wait did that mean that he had feelings for the coach’s indirect son? Oh god best not to think about that. He flipped through his notebook for the millionth and one time, making sure that everything was in order. He didn’t understand why he was so nervous, it was just Steve. That being in mind he flipped through the notebook again. He snapped it shut and tucked it under his arm, checking the time again. Three ten.

   He heard footfalls behind him and turned around smiling broadly and mouth open in a greeting. His face fell and paled when he saw who it was. Please…god, please no. Not now. Not them. Please. His mind was yelling at him to turn tail and run but his body was rooted in place, paralyzed.

   Jack, Will, and David were a mere ten feet away, a cold smile on each of their faces, when Eli’s body finally moved. He broke into a dead sprint, leaving his backpack behind and clutching his notebook to his chest, ice in his veins.

   “Hey Eli what’s the rush!?” Will shouted the others and he running after him.

   If they had been chasing him at any other time then he might have had a better chance. But right after exiting P.E with only a fifteen minute break to recuperate his strength? He wasn’t going to able to run for long and he knew it, and he feared that the bullies did too. He needed to find somewhere to go, fast. His house was fairly close by, Mr. Mori’s grocery store was closer, and there he wouldn’t have to waste time fumbling for keys. Eli ducked his head and poured on the steam. ‘Almost there, almost there, just hold on!’ he screamed at himself, heart hammering in his chest.

    His breath was coming in ragged gasps before very long right as he saw the parking lot of the store. Eli’s legs buckled, folded under him and his palms ate pavement as they broke his fall. He picked himself back up and scooped his notebook up as well but those few seconds, those few precious seconds were enough for the others to catch up to him. Why did the parking lot have to be vacant of people?

   Jack and David each grabbed one of his arms, the notebook fell from his grip as they dragged him to the back of the store, ignoring his kicks and protests. They pinned his wrists to the wall next to the dumpster and Will covered his mouth, silencing him, well muffling at least. “Shh, don’t yell. No one is going to hear you anyway.” Will soothed.

   He stopped struggling and tried to relax; breath still coming out in harsh pants as he looked down at the ground. Will was right anyway. There was no one around. All he could do was wait for their inevitable little monologue to end, hopefully a monologue was all it would be, and then go back to the school and apologize to Steve for disappearing without breathing a word of this. Just be compliant and wait, his moto.

   “Good.” Will said with a nod, pleased with Eli’s immediate surrender but not yet removing his hand. “Now my boys and I heard about your little show at P.E, all throughout the hallway when the bell rang ‘Oh wow that game was so cool’, ‘I can’t believe that Eli can move like that’, ‘I wonder if Eli’s been working out’, Eli, Eli, Eli…I can only hear your name so many times on a regular basis but when they’re saying that your some kind of athlete or something? Are you kidding me? Do you really think that you can try to be like Steve or the rest of us? Disgusting.”

   Eli just looked at the floor, he couldn’t respond if he wanted to, and he just wanted this to _end_. When were they going to get tired of doing this?

   “Hey look at him when he’s talking at you!” Jack snapped, tightening his grip on his wrist. Eli huffed out a breath and did as he was told but at the same time defied by glaring at him. Something caught his eye and he looked down to see that Will had his notebook in his hand, his eyes widened but he quickly moved his gaze back to his face, hoping, praying, that he hadn’t noticed.

    He had. Will gave that horrible shark grin smile of his and held the book up in front of his face. “Oh is this what you want? I just picked it up out of politeness. What is it, your diary or something?”

   “Ghf itf bacf!” he shouted from behind the hand, resuming his struggling once again, but their hands held fast.

   Will rolled his eyes and scoffed. “It’s just a book.” He deadpanned, opening the book with one hand and flipping through the pages. ‘You’re wrong’ Eli thought as he watched his book be defiled by the other’s paws. ‘It’s not a book, it’s my life.’ “Wow.” Will laughed. “Eli I knew that you were a freak but man! Trolls? Bridges? An underground cavern?”

   “Givef it bacf!!” Eli shouted again, twisting his body this way and that. “Leavf if alone!”

   “You know there are much better uses for a book like this, a cozy little open fire for example-” Will didn’t get a chance to finish his statement as Eli’s legs shot out and kicked him square in the stomach, sending him back a bit ways.

   “Let me go!!” Eli shouted, finally wrenching a hand free from a shocked Jack’s grip and using his free hand to free his other hand. He took the chance and bolted, wasting three vital seconds in picking up his notebook and got about five steps in before something hit him in the back of his head, making it swim as he fell, stars exploding in his vision.

   “That’s a real strong leg you got there, _Eli_.” Will said, straining his name as he kicked him in the stomach, returning the earlier kick and making him cry out. “You know, so many people were saying about what a little athlete you are because of that dodgeball game. And hey I’m starting to believe it too, I mean that running, strong kicking leg.

   “Hey fellas,” he continued, this time talking to his friends. “since he wants to be an athlete so badly I think that we should remind him that sometimes they get…injured.”

 

    Steve groaned as he checked the time when he finally exited the gym; it was nearly four. Eli was going to kill him, Blinky was going to kill him, Aargh was going to kill him, he was dead a million times over. It was a normal Friday of taking inventory except along with the small talk Lawrence always gave he also managed to slip in some questions to Steve about Eli. To say the least it had been mortifying. Let’s just say that one of those questions had been something along the lines of was ‘So what exactly do you and Eli do that causes you to come home so late?’ Good news, Lawrence didn’t exactly suspect ‘training to save the word from an evil Troll’, bad news…that exact same statement.

    He exited the school, looking around for his teammate while thinking of how to make it up to him for taking so long. “Eli? Hey Eli I’m sorry for taking so long but where are you?” he called, not spotting him anywhere. “Eli?”

   After five minutes of calling he was starting to get worried, after ten minutes of calling out, two phone calls, and four texts he was pretty worried. After three more unanswered phone calls, the last one going straight to voicemail it was all Steve could do to not immediately think that Gumm-Gumms had kidnapped him. The fact that it was daytime was the only thing that stopped him from thinking that. He continued to pace through the back parking lot of the school and almost tripped over Eli’s backpack, finally noticing it, sirens went off in his head.

   “Calm down, calm down, he probably just went for a walk and left his bag here okay?” he said softly to himself, trying to convince himself of that. He shouldered picked up the bag, placed it on the Vespa, clipped on his helmet, and drove off.

   “Now if I were a pissed off Eli where would I go? He probably left his backpack behind for me to find so I would know that he wasn’t kidnapped or anything like that and if he was kidnapped they wouldn’t leave his backpack behind.” He was about to drive to Eli’s house when he spotted Mr. Mori’s grocery store. No harm in checking there first right? Maybe he had gone there to help out Arty while he waited.

   He parked the Vespa and started to walking toward the store when he stepped on a paper. He picked it up and examined it. It showed a beautiful drawing of a crystal of some sort and next to the sketch was a short description of the gem, it’s properties and what uses it had. The handwriting and the way it was written was undeniably Eli. Steve smiled fondly and held the paper, not wanting to fold it and risk wrinkling it somehow. He continued walking to the store; the automatic doors slide open and the cold air conditioning greeting him.

    It was then that he realized that he didn’t know where Mr. Mori would be but hey why turn back now? He felt bad for the lady working at customer service who paled when he asked to see the manager. But she seemed instantly relieved when he clarified that he was just going to ask Arty something about Eli.

   “So you’re one of Eli’s friends huh? I’m Natalie.” She introduced herself, shaking his hand. She had pretty red hair, brown eyes, a galaxy of freckles across her face and a sweet smile. She appeared to be in her early twenties.

    “You could say that.” Steve said. “Nice to meet you Natalie, I’m-”

   “Oh wait let me guess, you’re Steve!” She chimed, eyes bright.

   “Uh yeah. How’d you guess?”

   “He described you very accurately, right down to the shade of your eyes.” She said with a laugh. “He helps out a lot here and can get a bit chatty, I so wish that he would just accept that part time job already. He feels like a real member of the team.” She said enthusiastically.

   “So I’ve heard. Arty was telling me telling me the same thing last time I was here; he also mentioned that Eli tells stories about me sometimes. I kept teasing him about that.” Steve admitted with a laugh. Even though he had just met Natalie she was really easy to talk to, plus it was nice to see who Eli worked with.

    “Sometimes? He says your name so often I think his brain just autocorrects every word that starts with an s to Steve.” Natalie laughed.

  “Oh really?” Steve chuckled, even as his face turned a shade darker. “You’ll have to tell me about that sometimes but right now I’m just trying to find him, we sort of have somewhere to be.”

   “Well I know that Mr. Mori stepped out for some reason but I’m sure he’ll be back soon, you can ask him then.”

   As if on cue Arty showed up with a dark expression on his face. However upon spotting Steve and Natalie he immediately donned a smile. But it was off, forced. “Ah Steve, nice to see you again.”

   “Same to you. Uh I don’t have a lot of time to talk, sorry. I’m looking for Eli? We have to be somewhere but I took too long helping out the coach with something and I think he might have come over here to wait for me.”

   “You…you don’t…” Arty said slowly before sighing. “He…made me swear not to tell his mother but he never said anything about you.”

   “Arty? What do you mean?” Steve asked, not liking the tone in the others tone at all, feeling as if he had ice in his veins.

   “I’m going to be straight with you Steve so please listen…” he took a deep breath and let it out shakily. “I’ve just come back from taking him home you see. Behind my store…behind my store he was there with some boys. Classmates of yours I suppose.” Each word was making the pit in Steve’s stomach fall further. “Um he didn’t want to go to the doctor or anything but…well I found the boys roughing him up-”

   Natalie gasped as her eyes widened in shock and Steve couldn’t hear anymore. He bolted out the door, ignoring Arty and Nat calling after him. He almost didn’t remember to put on his helmet before he hopped onto the Vespa, revving it up and peeling out of the parking lot.

    There wasn’t a doubt in his mind as to who had gotten Eli. How could he be so stupid? He should have known that Will wouldn’t stop. He should have had Eli stay and help with the inventory. He should have talked to Will himself. He pushed away those should haves to the back of his mind, that wasn’t important right now.

   Eli was.

    He got there in less than five minutes, barely remembering to take the key out of the ignition. The driveway was empty meant that Eli’s mom wasn’t home. He quickly got the spare key from under the flower pot, unlocked the door, put it back in its place and entered the house, locking the door behind him.

   “Eli? Eli it’s me, Steve.” He called, whisper shouting to not disrupt the overall silence of the house. There wasn’t an answer.

   “Eli? Come on, this is already reminding me of a horror movie or something.” Steve joked, well not really joking as he kept imagining a goblin or something dropping down from the ceiling.

    He began to cautiously make his way up the stairs to the other’s bedroom. “Listen, Elijah,” Steve began, using his full name for once to show that he wasn’t joking. He spoke in a soft tone but loud enough that Eli would be able to hear him as he made his way to his room. The door was closed. “Arty told me what happened. I’m so, so, sorry. I know that I wasn’t there for you again. But I’m going to come in okay? I need to check that you’re alright.” Steve’s voice wavered a bit as the end as he stood right in front of the door. “Please, let me in, even if you don’t have a single scratch on your body that needs checking.”

    Silence was all that answered him. Steve sighed and rested his forehead against the cool wood of the door. Was he even in there or had he just been talking to nobody? Then there was a noise, the faintest of clicks that signalled that the door had just been locked. Or unlocked. Steve prayed that it was the latter. He took the noise as an invitation and tried the knob, slowly twisting it and pushing it open. The door easily gave way, as if it had been waiting for him.

   Steve entered the room and closed the door behind him before turning toward where Eli sat on the bed. The sight making his jaw fall open slightly and his heart ache.

   Eli’s arms where covered in scratches and bruises along with his with his legs, a collection of purple, blue, black, and red. None of the cuts and scratches were very deep but that fact didn’t do anything to stop the pounding in Steve’s heart as he took it all in. Eli’s head was down, hair covering his eyes, and shoulders slouched but then he looked up and Steve’s heart stopped. There was a nasty scratch on his right cheek but even more noticeable above that was the black eye he was sporting, red bleeding into a deep purple. Both of his eyes were red rimmed from crying and were still filled with unshed tears, his cheeks streaked with them. “Steve…” he said, not able to get out more, voice cracking and half choked with a sob.

   Steve wanted to shout, he wanted to find the bastards that had done this and repay them tenfold, he wanted to kick the crap out of them. But who would that help? Would it change what had happened? Would it heal Eli’s wounds, would it take away his bruises? No. And that wasn’t what Eli needed right now.

    He slowly walked over to the bed and held his hands out to the other. Eli hesitated for a moment before taking his hands; Steve ever so gently helped him to his feet, being careful to not hurt him any further, Eli dropped his gaze to the ground. He didn’t want to be seen like this. Not by Steve. Said person suddenly bent to his level and wrapped him in an as tight of an embrace as he dared. Eli froze, even his tears stilling in his eyes.

   “It’s okay. You’re okay.” Steve soothed, speaking into his ear.

  Eli choked on a sob and buried his face into his chest, hugging him back just as fiercely, his anchor in a storm. Steve held him until after Eli had stopped trembling, until after his tears had faded, soaking into his shirt and until after his breathing became normal, and even for a few moments after that.

“Can you let me clean you up?” Steve murmured softly. He felt Eli nod against his chest. “Do you have a first aid kit anywhere?” He asked, pulling back to look at him in the eye, another nod.

   “In the bathroom and kitchen.” Eli answered, a sharp pang in the other’s chest at how dull that normally cheery voice now was.

   “Okay, let’s go.” He said. Eli turned away and walked slowly to the door and out, moving as if waking from a dream. Or a nightmare. Steve was about to follow him but something on the bedside table caught his eye.

   It was a small, black, leather bound notebook, or at least that’s what it might have been at one point. The cover was caked with mud and the pages appeared to have been torn out (in some cases up) and hastily shoved back in. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Stay calm. Steve pulled out the page that he had found earlier in the parking lot from his pocket, unfolded it and laid it on top of the notebook before following the other to the bathroom.

   Eli was already washing his arms and face, letting out little hisses of pain as he did so. The first aid kit laid waiting on the counter. Wordlessly Steve walked over and flipped it open, looking through its components. He waited until Eli was done washing up and had dried his hands before speaking. “Did you at any point fall and hit your head? Sit on the counter please.”

   “N-no. I mean I did fall twice but I didn’t exactly hit my head directly. They um…they…but I covered my head.” Eli replied, doing as he was told.

   “What’s your name?” Steve asked.

   “Huh? Are you seriously checking if I have a concussion?”

   “Name.” he pressed.

   “Elijah L. Pepperjack, member of the Creepslayerz.” Eli answered.

   “What’s my name?”

   “Steve Palchuk, other half of the Creepslayerz.”

   Steve nodded, apparently satisfied with those answers before he pulled out one of those nifty little flashlights. He turned it on and shone it in each of Eli’s eyes respectively. Both dilated accordingly. He put the flashlight back in the kit. “I play sports remember? I’ve seen my fair share of concussions.”

   “Thanks…” Eli said quietly, it was sweet that Steve would think about checking something like that. “I told Mr. Mori that I didn’t want to go to the doctor but I ended up seeing one anyway, Doctor Stevie.” He said with a snort.

   “Damn straight.” Steve said in agreement before his gaze softened. “Eli?” The other gave a little questioning noise. “I need to disinfect these.” Eli bit his lip, hissing through his teeth at the painful reminder that it was split and nodded. Steve returned the nod and pulled out the alcohol and cotton balls. He dabbed one of the balls in the pain liquid and held it over one of the cuts on Eli’s arm, looking up at him as if asking for permission. Eli nodded and took a deep breath and Steve began his work. Surprisingly he only said ow three times the whole time while the other worked.

   Once done with that, Doctor Steve grabbed a small hand towel and half soaked it with water before cleaning Eli’s legs, making sure that there wasn’t any dirt in the open flesh. After doing that he soaked another ball in pain liquid and did the same procedure with his legs. This time Eli said ow twice, both for the same wound on his knee. Every so often Steve would murmur a few soft praises as to how good the other was being. With that done Steve knew that the only thing left to disinfect was Eli’s cheek. Oh that was going to be lovely.

   The other knew the same thing and gripped the countertop tighter, catching Steve’s eye and giving him a brave nod. He removed the other’s glasses and set them on the counter gently. Steve got one more cotton ball with the medical cleaning acid and went to clean his cheek, hesitating for a moment. “I give you permission to say the word fuck.” He announced, starting to clean his cheek.

   Eli laughed, an actual real laugh that warmed Steve and made him smile before said laugh melted into a pained whimper. “Ssh, almost over, almost over.” Steve shushed, working as quickly as he could. Eli scrunched his eyes shut, his lips pressed into a thin line. He would have said ow but he knew that if he did, he wasn’t going to be satisfied with just saying a simple little ow. Steve finished disinfecting the nasty scrape and put antibiotic on it as well as a large, square bandage.

   “Are you alright?” Steve asked, even though he knew what the real answer to that was.

   “Hm. My battle wounds are clean thanks to you Doctor Stevie.” Eli said with a smile, it didn’t last long. “But if _I’m_ alright…I don’t know the answer to that. T-they…they um…they took my keys. And my phone? I don’t k-know if it was in my backpack. And my notebook-they-they t-t…” he looked down; eyes half filling with tears again but not spilling out, his ducts were too dried.

   “It’s okay. Well not sunshiney everything is butterflies and rainbows okay but you know what I mean. We’ll get those back. And I have your backpack with me; I left it outside on the Vespa. Now I’m going to get you some ice for that okay?” he said, Eli gave him another nod and he went to exit the bathroom, pausing when Eli spoke.

   “H-hey, I-I said that I wasn’t sure, if I was alright or not I mean, and I’m not sure. But I know that I’m a lot better with you here.”

   Steve gave him a smile and continued making his way to the kitchen, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he made his way down the stairs, fingers stabbing at the keys as he dialled the number. The phone rang three endlessly long times before the other person answered.

   “Hey Steve, how are you?” Lawrence asked.

   “Extremely pissed and before you reprimand me on my language listen.” Steve said, fighting to keep from growling out the words. He rummaged through the freezer as he spoke. “I’m at Eli’s house, Will and the others jumped him after school while I was at the gym.”

   There was a long pause before Coach spoke. “Are you sure that it was them? That’s a pretty grave accusation. Do you have any proof or something?”

   “Oh yeah hold on while I get a picture of Eli with his _black eye_ , _busted lip_ , and _countless_ other _cuts_ and _bruises_. Oh and I hope you don’t mind but his eyes are a little puffy since he’s been _bawling his heart out._ ” There was another long silence and Steve sighed, grabbing a bag of frozen peas. He shut the freezer door and leaned against the fridge. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. Mr. Mori, the grocery store manager on Main saw it happen if you want to ask him.”

   “Alright Steve…and it’s fine, I forgive you. I’m glad that you’re helping out your friend.” Lawrence said in understanding.

   “Yeah…listen I’m thinking about spending the night, Will and they others they…they took his _keys_ , Lawrence. Who does that? And dang, you didn’t _see_ him. I mean he…” Steve swallowed, feeling his throat fill with emotion. He looked up, willing himself to not start tearing up. “You didn’t see him. He just…I can’t, I should have been there- I-” his voice cracked and he fell silent.

   “It’s alright champ, don’t worry.” The coach soothed, using the same voice that Steve had been using to calm Eli down not even ten minutes ago. “Do you need me to bring you some clothes or something?”

   “Seriously? You would do that? That would be incredible.” He sighed, letting out a shaky breath.

   “Of course I would” Lawrence answered without hesitation. “I’ll swing by around later since I assume you have your hands full right now.”

   “Yeah, I’m playing doctor right now. I’ll see you later bye.”

   “Okay champ, goodbye, make me proud.”

   “I will, bye.” Steve said before hanging up, shoving the phone back into his pocket. That had been…weird. Not a bad weird but weird. He knew that Lawrence wanted to bond with him and get along with him for the sake of his mother but that had just been…entirely too fatherly like. Steve didn’t have the best luck with father figures which is why he always rebuffed Coach’s attempts but…that had been nice. Just knowing that he was there for him. Not the best situation but hey. He shook his head and went back upstairs, frozen peas in hand. Not the time.

   “Got some ice.” Steve informed him, tenderly placing the bag of frozen peas to the bruised flesh under Eli’s eye. “Now we’ll have to put ice on it every hour to limit the swelling and after two days you should switch to warming the area which helps it heal faster.”

   “Thanks Steve but this isn’t my first black eye, I know how to take care of it.” Eli said without thinking.

   “Wait what? When the hell did you get a black eye before now?” he demanded, looking at him worriedly.

   Eli chewed the inside of his cheek before answering, letting out a little sigh. Well Steve would have found out eventually. “This um this isn’t the first time this happened, I mean it’s the worst time but it’s not the first. I’ve lived here longer than you remember? S-so I’ve known Will longer. He hadn’t bothered me in a while since before you came to town, at least not as physically as he used to but he didn’t really like me hanging out with you and…well he’s not very happy that I’m doing it again since they warned me last time.”

    “Wait they what?!” Steve asked, accidentally shouting.

   “Remember when we were on the bleachers?” Eli didn’t expect him to but hey, the cat was already out of the bag.

   “Wait they-when they said that Coach needed to see me-I left you on the bleachers with Jack and David-they-did they…?” he asked, running a hand through his hair. He knew that will and the others were bullies but he had figured that the worst that they had ever done to Eli was stuff him into a locker. Eli nodded, the frozen peas making a soft crunching noise at the movement. “Why the hell didn’t you say anything?”

   “Would anybody have done anything?” Eli asked matter of factly. “When they shove me into lockers it’s just ‘horsing around’ or a ‘joke’, when they call me a freak or any other f word they receive a talking to at most and they promise to never do it again to just keep doing it within the hour, if I said that they hit me then I would have been ‘making it up’ or ‘asking for attention’. They only reason that Coach listened to you on Monday is because you’re you, the reliable boy next door who’s perfect.”

   “You could have told me Eli. You could have said something before I started doing the same thing to you. God, I thought that Monday had been a fucked up misunderstanding but this.”

   “Steve.” Eli said sternly, glaring at him with his good eye. “I’ve told you before, let it go. What happened, happened and it’s over now. So focus on what’s going on _now_. Now you’re on doctor duty and now you’re here so stop putting yourself down. I’ll say it one more time Steve Palchuk. I. Forgive. You.”

   They both looked at each other for a tense minute before Steve snorted and ducked his head. “Damn nerd.”

    “Damn jock.” Eli shot back. They glared at each other again, seeing who would look away first but instead they burst out laughing.

   “Oh god, how are you able to smile no matter what? Knocking into someone on the first day or school, falling down a tunnel, fighting a giant Troll, sitting on the bathroom counter with a bag of peas mashed against your eye.” Steve asked before laughing again.

    “Because I enjoy your company.” Eli replied matter of factly, a bright smile still on his face. “And I’m pretty sure that you forgot my backpack on your scooter.”

    “Oh dang I forgot.” Steve realized. “I blame you for distracting me because no one has the right to look that damn adorable while sitting on top of a counter and getting patched up.” He said without thinking. His phone rang at that moment, saving them from a very awkward slience. He picked it up at that moment, not checking who it was since he expected it to be Lawrence. “Hey, are you here already?”

   “Um no.” Jim answered from the other end of the line, sounding very agitated. “Steve, where the hell are you and Eli? Blinky just called me asking why you guys weren’t at the cavern.”

   “Hold on.” Steve grunted, covering the phone with one hand before Jim got a chance to answer. “It’s Jim. Blinky called him.” He whispered to Eli, not needing to say more than that for him to understand. Eli motioned for Steve to give him the phone and the other complied without any arguments although he did hesitate for a moment before handing it over. “I’m getting your backpack alright, soldier?”

   Eli nodded and held the frozen peas to his eye himself, giving an eye roll and a lopsided smile at the nickname. “He-hey Jim.”

    Steve went down the stairs once more and out the door, letting out a breath that he didn’t know that he had been holding. Fuckin Will, stupid Jack and David, ganging up on Eli, making him _cry_ , taking his goddamn keys and making him not feel safe in his own home. Steve took another deep breath, counting to twenty and then from twenty to one. Eli didn’t need him yelling or punching walls. He got the backpack from the Vespa along with his own and went back inside.

   “S-shut up Jim! I’m allowed to say that he’s sweet! Do you have me on speaker?!” Eli whisper shouted into the phone, jumping when he heard the front door open and close once more, signalling that Steve was back. “Because I can hear Toby laughing in the background! Aren’t you guys supposed to be working with Strickler and Ms. Nomura?”

   “We are.” Jim protested from over the phone and Eli could practically see Strickler rolling his eyes at Jim’s sass. “But seriously? All joking and teasing aside about ‘Steveie’ playing doctor,” Eli had accidentally let the name slip while Steve had been getting his bookbag. “Are you sure that you’re alright?”

    “Yes Jim, I’m fine, a bit shaken up but I’m alright. And if you breathe a word about this to Steve I will chase you down and strangle you even with my current depth perception.” He might have downplayed his injuries a _bit_ , just stating that he had a black eye.

   “Trollhunters’ honour. Toby on the other hand,” Eli could still hear Toby cackling in the background. “I can’t guarantee that one.”

   “Toby, the same thing I said to Jim applies to you too.” Eli deadpanned even though he was smiling.

   “You can’t even get your hands around my neck!” Toby shouted over his laughing fit. “Are you sure that you don’t want Claire to make a portal and send them to the bottom of the Dead Sea?” he asked, sobering up.

    “One: the Dead Sea is actually dying, drying up so sending them to the bottom of the Dead Sea might actually just send them into a sinkhole. Two: it’s fine. I’m pretty sure that Stevi-Steve’s already called Lawrence or something; he took a while to get the bag of peas.”

    This time Claire’s voice came over the phone “Okay ignore the two idiot’s teasing and revenge ideas, we’ll call Blinky and explain the situation to him, you two definitely are allowed to take a break today. And if I were you I would ask Steve to stay over. Jim do not look at me like that, I do not mean in _that_ way! I mean that if some jerks took my house keys I would stay with someone until my parents got home! _Malpensado_!” Eli snickered at the way she scolded the two.

   “I’ll think about it okay? Thanks,” Steve walked in and placed his backpack next to him on the counter; Eli gave him a smile and mouthed a ‘thank you’. “Steve’s back so I’m going to go, bye guys.”

   “Bye Eli, get well soon.” Jim said.

   “Stay safe.” Claire added.

   Toby snickered before donning a horrible impression of Eli. “Oh Doctor Stevie, you’ve healed my wounds but I still need you to heal my heart!”

    “Toby!” Eli, Jim and Claire yelled simultaneously, Eli screeching the name, red up to his ears and very, _very_ grateful that unlike Jim he had not put the call on speaker. “Bye!” he shrieked, ending the call and cutting off Toby’s pterodactyl like laughing.

   Steve quirked an eyebrow and gave him a puzzled but amused look. “Do I even want to know?”

   “No.” Eli said with a laugh, shaking his head before pointing to the makeshift ice pack. “I think this side of my face is numb at this point, can I take this off?”

   “Yeah, yeah, go ahead.” He replied. Eli sighed in relief, removed the pack from his face, set it on the counter and put his glasses back on. “Oh and if it’s not a problem I was thinking about staying over. Is that alright? I _just_ realized that I never asked you.”

   “Yeah of course, Claire was suggesting the same thing actually. Thank you…um I’m sorry that we had to miss training and that you had to take care of me and see me uh have that little breakdown.”

   “Hey,” Steve said soothingly, placing a hand a hand on the uninjured part of Eli’s face and looking at him straight in the eye, giving him a soft smile. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be, I just want to be here with you, Eli. You don’t have to apologize alright?”

   “Hm.” Eli gave a little hum and smiled before climbing off the counter. “Are you hungry?”

   “Famished, oh and Lawrence is going to pass by later with some clothes for me so don’t worry about that. I think I spotted some frozen pizza, is that okay?”

    “Pizza’s perfect.”

 

    They sat on the couch eating pizza with a blanket draped over the two of them, lights off as they watched The Proposal. They had both decided that a nice movie marathon would be just the thing they needed and it turns out that Steve had a soft spot for Sandra Bullock (who didn’t?) and approved greatly of all the movies of her that there were. So that’s how they ended up (snuggled) on the couch eating gooey, delicious, cheese pizza and watching that movie. As promised Steve was putting ice on Eli’s eye every hour.

   Thankfully it hadn’t swollen up too dramatically. Thankfully as well was the fact that Eli seemed in much better spirits, laughing at the movie and almost spewing soda out of his nose when Margaret began dancing and singing Get Low and possibly traumatizing Gammy and then complaining that his nose burned as a result. Even though he’s seen that film a few dozen times that part always got him.

   However, the sweet scene between them was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door, making them both jump out of their skin. They looked at each other as if not knowing what the noise meant when there was another loud knock, this time more fiercely. Steve pressed a finger to his lips in a ‘shush’ notion, Eli nodded and Steve cautiously got up from the couch, crept to the door and grabbed an umbrella from the umbrella rack before looking through the peephole and sighing in relief. He threw open the door. “You scared the bejabbers out of us!” he accused.

    “Sorry, sorry, I tried calling your phone but you didn’t answer and I figured that shouting wouldn’t be very helpful.” Lawrence apologized. He held up a bookbag and gave it to Steve. “You got the essentials in there, toothbrush, clothes, etcetera-what’s with the umbrella?”

   Steve immediately hid it behind his back as if that would erase its existence. “Oh! Um-”

   “S-Stevie w-who’s at the door?” Eli asked coming up behind him, almost using him as a shield as he peeked out to check who it was, letting out his own sigh of relief when he saw that it was just Coach. “H-hi Coach Lawrence.” He said, coming out from behind the other and giving him an awkward wave, Steve put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

    Lawrence gave Eli a once over before looking at Steve who just gave a shrug in response. And this was _after_ Steve had patched him up. “Well you’re a brave one, that’s some shiner.”

   “Um thanks?” Eli replied not knowing what else to say.

   “You’re putting ice on that right?” Coach asked, directing the question to Steve.

   “Yes, Lawrence, I’m not an idiot. I’ll have you know that I’ve been referred to as a doctor several times this evening.” He said matter of factly with a proud smile. Eli flushed a bit, almost regretting the way that he had called him that.

   “Are you two sure that you want to stay here and not at home? Your mother and I won’t bother either of you.” Lawrence asked, giving a concerned look to the boys.

   “I’m fine with whatever, what do you want?” Steve said, turning to Eli.

   At first Eli didn’t know that Steve was asking _him_ what he would prefer. “Oh! Ah I-I would be more comfortable here. If that’s alright that is.”

   “Of course it is.” Steve replied considerately, giving is shoulder a squeeze. “Well you heard my little soldier, here it is. Thanks for the clothes.” Eli’s face bloomed crimson up to his ears and looked to the ground in embarrassment.

    Lawrence chuckled at Eli’s reaction that somehow went unnoticed by Steve, who he was fairly certain had no idea that he had just called the other his. He knew that his possibly step son could be an idiot but damn. “I’ll leave you to it, see you later.”

   “Do you want to stay for the rest of the movie? We’re watching Sandra Bullock in The Proposal.” Eli piped up, surprising Steve (as well as making him just a bit insulted.)

   The Coach caught the look on Steve’s face, stifled another chuckle and shook his head. “Thanks but no thanks; with this one out of the house it means that his mother and I can finally have our own movie night.”

    “Spare me the details, old man.” Steve groaned even though he was smiling.

   “Don’t stay up too late, and for Pete’s Sake take your phone off silent, your mother was worried sick.” Lawrence said in his dad voice, looking pointedly at Steve.

   “Yes sir.” He replied apologetically.

    Lawrence nodded, said goodbye one more time, climbed into his car and drove off, leaving them to their own thing which was go back to the movie. After the Proposal they switched to Deadpool (Eli is a sucker for Marvel), and then they went to Netflix and put Guardians of the Galaxy two, neither were able to resist baby Groot and Steve found it absolutely adorable how Eli kept squealing over the movies and pointing out scenes that had literally just happened. Some people got annoyed when people talked during films but Steve loved hearing the other ramble and make jokes. Oh and more good news, Eli’s phone had been in his bookbag after all.

     Somehow it was magically eleven o clock at night, so much for not staying up to late, and the two decided to retreat to Eli’s room since his mother often arrived near midnight and Eli was much too tired to explain the whole situation to his mother who would absolutely flip. He would have preferred not mentioning it at all and just wearing sunglasses indoors for the next couple of weeks but Steve made him promise that he would tell his mom in the morning.

   So they ended up playing a quiet little of game of Would You Rather in Eli’s room. Most of Steve’s questions were just random but most of Eli’s questions would just make a person question their entire existence.

   “Would you rather always have to say what was on your mind or never speak again?” Eli asked, sitting cross legged on his bed with Steve.

   Steve groaned. “Seriously? The question I asked you was would you rather be a chipmunk or a squirrel for fuck’s sake. Uhhhh,” he pondered for a moment and shrugged. “I guess I would always say what was on my mind even though I would probably get killed a thousand times a day.”

   Eli giggled at Steve’s response. “Okay, your turn.”

  “Hmm would you rather…be the next Trollhunter or become a Troll?”

   “Be a Troll, they’re awesome and really tough.” Eli answered automatically.

   “But you would never be able to be out in the sun again.”

   “I like night time anyway, all of the stars and the peacefulness…” he sighed wistfully. “My turn, would you rather be reborn with your memories but not knowing who they belonged to or be relive your life not having your current memories until you died.”

   “Eli you are making this game impossible and I’m about to have an existential crisis over here!” Steve exclaimed, making Eli burst into giggles again. “The first one, now it’s my turn! Would you rather-” he suddenly got a devious idea, one that could totally backfire on him but hey, he was good at talking himself out of tough situations.

   Steve cleared his throat before asking with all the politeness in the word (save for the shit eating grin) “Would you rather spit or swallow?” Eli almost fell off the bed but regained his balance, looking at Steve shocked, his face a fiery red. “Well?” Steve prompted, looking ever so innocent.

    “What the hell Steve!?” Eli shouted before clapping his hands over his mouth. “What the hell Steve?!” he repeated, this time whisper shouting.

   “Well I can’t ask those intellectual questions that you’ve been asking me because they’d be too easy for you and I can’t keep asking the questions that I’ve been asking because those are too easy. So a question like this would be just as hard for you to answer as those Brainiac questions are to me.” Steve said matter of factly.

   “That’s not fair!”

   “It’s completely fair. Now, would you rather-”

   “I know the question!” Eli shrieked, covering his ears which were just as red as his face. He mumbled something into the palm of his hand. “My turn, would you rather-”

   “I couldn’t hear the answer, Eli.” Steve teased, cradling his chin in the palm of his hand as he leaned forward. He was having much too fun with this.

   “Swallow. Would you rather get five hundred million dollars for doing something that makes the world a horrible place or something that would possibly save the world but get no recognition for it?” he asked, saying his answer quickly and looking to the side, face even redder than before.

    Steve blinked for a moment, face dusted red as well. He hadn’t expected Eli to actually answer. “W-well we’re already doing the second one aren’t we?” he replied, cursing the way he stuttered. “Would you rather we play an actual game of Would You Rather or continue to play your version of Would You Rather but every time you ask some Brainiac question Stevie asks something perverted?”

    “Oh come on!” Eli exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

    “Welcome to my world, sunshine, now choose.” Steve said with a smirk. No matter what Eli chose he would win. Although he caught himself wishing for the latter.

    “Ugh fine! The first one!” he answered, crossing his arms and pouting. He was already getting over the shock of earlier and back to his normal self and was finding himself much too aware of Steve’s presence, of the fact that he was actually staying over. So if Steve kept asking _those_ questions…well any teenage boy knew what that might cause. He had already gotten a few images with that last question.

     “Finally! Was that so hard?” he laughed. The other could seriously be such a dork sometimes. “Now stop pouting and ask a question.”

    Eli muttered something that sounded like ‘I’m not pouting’ before speaking up. “Um…would you rather be the one who distracts the bull when the rider falls off or the rider?”

    “Rider, no way am I falling off.” Steve replied confidently. “Would you rather fight a fifty frog sized dinosaurs or one dinosaur sized frog?”

    “What even-” Eli burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. “Where do you even get these questions?! Neither, I’m not fighting a helpless dinosaur or frog!” he said in between giggles.

    “Then you’ve obviously never seen Jurassic Park.” He crossed his arms. “Dinosaurs are vicious little bastards and this is coming from someone who had a huge dinosaur phase as a kid.”

    “You were? Cool I was a space child, well I never really grew out of it, mythologies and legends just take most of my time now.”

    “Of course you are.” Steve rolled his eyes before catching Eli trying to subtly yawn and realized that he was starting to feel drowsy as well. He checked the time on his watch, just after midnight. He knew that Eli was one of those kinds of people that could accidently stay up till three in the morning; something that had been proven by Eli sending him texts asking if a new theory that he had seemed reasonable. Of course nothing would sound reasonable to Steve at that ungodly hour of the morning so he would try to listen as best he could. Eli would usually realize what time it was within ten minutes and would apologize. Usually.

    “Okay bed time, you had a long day and you need your rest.” Steve said in his doctor voice, talking more sternly without realizing.

    However Eli didn’t mind and found it stupidly cute how Steve worried. It was a different kind of worrying than the kind that his mother provided which was just suffocating and borderline mental. But he knew that she loved him and had her own way of showing it. “Aye, aye.” Eli said giving him a salute and clambering off the bed, pausing once his feet hit the ground. “Um do you want to change in the bathroom or do I?”

    Oh yeah pyjamas exist, Steve recalled, feeling like an idiot. “It’s your room, I’ll take the bathroom. He hadn’t even checked what clothes Lawrence had brought him yet but he supposed that he would find out. He grabbed his backpack, opened the door and looked both ways before exiting the room and quickly padding over to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Even though they hadn’t heard Eli’s mom come home yet it never hurt to exercise some caution.

    Upon opening the bag Steve found that Coach had packed him two pairs of clothing, his usual attire and a pair of pyjamas which included a grey undershirt and a pair of thin, white and blue striped pyjama pants. He changed quickly and pulled out the toothbrush that had also been packed. He brushed his teeth and put the used clothes into the backpack and exited the bathroom only to catch Eli who had been leaning his back against the bathroom door.

    “S-sorry, I was just waiting for my turn.” Eli explained, looking up at Steve from his backwards position. He had on a plain white shirt that looked a size too big and a pair of black pyjama pants with green aliens printed all over.

   “The bathroom’s your nerd.” Steve chuckled, propping him back up to his feet, grabbing the bookbag off the counter and moving out of the other’s way. And holy hell that was the cutest outfit that he had ever seen him wear.

   “Thanks.” He said, entering the bathroom and not even bothering to close the door as he began to brush his teeth.

    “Hey Eli?” he asked. Said person gave a ‘hm?’ to show that he was listening. “I had been planning on taking over the couch but I just realized that your mom would probably whack me with her purse thinking that I broke into the house.”

   “Truef.” Eli agreed. He spit out the foam and turned toward him, not quite looking at Steve and shrugged. “We’ll both have to be in my room. I’ll take the floor or the computer chair or something.”

    “Um _no._ ” Steve deadpanned, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorway. “I am _not_ having you sleep on a chair; you’re already going to be stiff enough in the morning. I’ll take the chair.”

   “And _I_ am _not_ going to let you sleep on the chair, _especially_ since you wasted your whole afternoon taking care of me. As a doctor you should know that sleeping on a chair is bad for your posture.” He argued. They both gave each other a sharp look, trying to see who would cave first before Eli sighed in exasperation and resumed brushing his teeth. “Fuck it, we’re sharing.” He grumbled.

   “Huh?” Steve questioned, one hundred and one percent sure that he had not heard the other correctly. He hadn’t really just said-

    “We. Are. Sharing.” Eli repeated, enunciating each word. No sooner had the word sharing passed his lips did they hear the front door open, signalling that Eli’s mom was home. Eli mouthed a curse, quickly rinsed his mouth and shut off the bathroom lights before grabbing Steve by the hand and pulling him to his room at the speed of light, closing the door as swiftly as he could without slamming it and locking it for good measure. “She never checks up on me at night and if she does and the doors locked she just figures that I’m asleep or something.”

    “Or something.” Steve repeated with a smirk.

    “Oh shut up.” Eli laughed. He flicked off the light of his room and it has bathed in the monitor light as well as the moonlight that streamed through the window. He opened up his closet, going on his tip toes to reach the top shelf and pulled down a spare pillow, tossing it Steve who of course caught it. He also grabbed an extra blanket just in case.

    Eli climbed onto the bed and moved his pillow from the centre to the left corner, making room for the two of them to fit comfortably. Steve still stood by the door, not knowing whether he should help or not or what he could even do to help. Eli patted the space next to his pillow. “Well? You’re not going to stare at me all night are you?”

    “Smug bastard.” Steve muttered, walking over and gently whacking Eli over the head with the pillow, causing the smaller to erupt in giggles before he plopped the pillow down where he had told him to. Eli took off his glasses and placed them on the bedside table and lied down, pulling up the blanket to cover the upper half of his torso.

    Steve hesitated for a moment before muttering a quiet “All right then” and lied down as well, pulling the spare blanket over himself as Eli had done. “I’m not squishing you or anything right?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow in questioning.

    “No, this is fine.” Eli said quietly, speaking in whispers just in case his mom suddenly had supersonic hearing. It was a comfortable fit due to the size of the bed and Eli’s small frame. They were neither too close nor too far, falling into perfect friendly distance.

   “If you snore I’m suffocating you with a pillow.” He remarked, whispering as well, smiling when Eli broke into hushed giggles once more.

   “If anyone is a snorer here it’s you.” Eli said matter of factly.

   “Yeah right. Goodnight little soldier.” He murmured, tenderly brushing the hair out of Eli’s face, caught up in the blatant domestic-ness the whole scene held, looking right into those emerald eyes. No wonder Eli loved stars so much, his eyes contained them all.

    “Goodnight Stevie.” Eli said softly, sighing into the slight touch and looking at the other one last time before closing his eyes and slowly drifting off to sleep, Steve following right after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY! BEFORE YOU START COMMENTING OR WHATEVER: I know that some of you think that Eli got over it too quickly, he DIDN'T. Okay? Yes at the moment he's calm and he got calm quickly. Why? Because this Isn't. The. First. Time. It's. Happened.  
> I get over things quickly too AT THE MOMENT. Meaning: Right now he could be fine but he could be more jumpy and whatnot in the future. So I am in NO WAY saying that Eli got beat up and is all happy now, NOW I'm just saying everyone has different calm down times and different ways to get calm. Steve made him feel SAFE. And to be honest when I'm done crying I feel numb as fuck which makes it easy to shift my mood to happy afterwards.  
> You guys were wondering when the bullies were going to show up again? HERE. YOU. GO. Okay, Will. He's the leader of the other two (Jack and David) But picking on Eli just because he's a nerd doesn't seem like a total explanation does it? Perhaps there's something...more. What might that be? I AM NOT BEATING UP ELI FOR THE FUN OF IT, IT WILL MOVE THE PLOT ALONG. I'm not like directors in movies that include an actor drowning ot dying or something just for the sake of a liplock (aka CPR) Like no. Like if you want to have one saving the others life then that’s fine but for fuck’s sake at least do the CPR properly. Usually the CPR moment does nothing to move the plot along, it’s just for the sake of lip lock. So that's NOT what I'm doing.  
> Whoever’s seen Black butler Book of the Atlantic knows what I’m talking about when I compare Eli’s dodging to ballet.  
> Uhhhhh long as hell end notes huh? Oh and remember, updates are on Mondays and Fridays, stew in feels for a bit XD (Just kidding, I love you guys please don't hate me! [I don't give a fuck, if you wanna say you hate me go ahead, just shows me how good I was at wounding y'all XD])


	8. If Only

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They stayed till nearly seven, with Eli’s mom home they couldn’t really stay longer than that. Blinky and Aargh once again wished for Eli to have a swift recovery. Eli thanked them but he couldn’t help but feel as if the possible training day had been wasted, even if he had learned some new things. If only he had run faster. Eli rested his good cheek on Steve’s shoulder during the ride home and didn’t try to make conversation; something that the other knew wasn’t a good sign.  
> “Hey Eli,” Steve began, grabbing Eli’s wrist when he started climbing off the Vespa. “Come on, what’s wrong?”  
> Eli sighed, no use in lying. “We couldn’t do anything because of me. And everyone just keeps looking at me like I’m going to break. I…If I was stronger like you I could have run faster I…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHO'S READY FOR FEELS TO KICK THEM IN THE FACE!?!?! *Cues Sorry not Sorry*  
> GYAH I love this chapter so much!  
> Oh and Eli's mom is a therapist, keep that in mind.  
> I don't recommend reading this chapter in public as it may (hopefully) cause kicking, squealing, urge to rip the author's throat out, the urge to scream into a pillow, etc. You have been warned!

     Eli let out another moan, moving his tongue against Steve’s. His head was swimming, his lungs not able to get enough air as they continued their needy, desperate kiss, teeth clacking against each other in their haste. Eli pulled back to take a much needed breath, resting his forehead on Steve’s, his whole body flushed as he let out a shudder. “H-hold on, I’m dizzy. I-I forgot to breathe.” He panted out, resting his head in the crook of Steve’s neck and feeling like he was about to pass out but in a good way.

   “Well somebody’s excited.” Steve teased, running his hands through Eli’s hair as he caught his breath. Even though Eli didn’t comment on it, it was obvious that he wasn’t the only one who was ‘excited’. He could certainly tell since he was currently seated in Steve’s lap at the moment.

    Instead of making some snarky remark on that topic Eli decided to bend his head down and tenderly bit Steve’s neck, gently sucking on the flesh and smirking when Steve gripped his hips even tighter, letting out a curse under his breath. “Goddamn it Eli, you know I-” the rest of his comment melted into a moan as Eli sucked harder. Steve loved being marked while Eli loved marking, lucky coincidence.

   “Mm.” Eli hummed, pulling back and giving him a smug look. “I know Stevie.” He said, apparently he had already gotten his breath back. “And I know that you said that you don’t bite but I do.” He purred, giving him a wink.

    Steve’s heart skipped a beat or two and he let out a shudder of his own before putting back on his game face. “Smug bastard.” He mumbled, grinding his hips up into Eli’s, making them both let out a soft gasp, the friction amazing but not enough by a long shot.

    They rocked their hips together, moaning quietly, breath mingling before they pulled each other into another mind numbing kiss, desperate to taste each other again. They had shed their clothes ages ago save for their underwear and through their bare chests they could feel their hearts beating frantically. Eli tangled his hands in Steve’s hair and even though Steve was the one winning the dominance game between their tongues, Eli was the one controlling the kiss. Steve’s hands wandered from Eli’s hips to the length of his body, caressing every crevice and crook.

    His hands found their way to Eli’s chest, fingers brushing tenderly over his nipples, smirking into the kiss when he felt Eli gasp hotly into the kiss, cock jumping at the touch. Steve broke the kiss, giving one last peck before he moved back and gently nipping at the bud; Eli practically _whimpered._ He repeated the action, this time adding his tongue to it, biting before swirling his tongue around it. Eli’s back arched as he bucked, hands pulling at Steve’s hair roughly. This time there was no mistaking the noise that escaped his mouth. Steve groaned, not discouraging the the hair pulling at all and thrusted up as he worked, loving to hear Eli come undone, driven on by those little cries of ‘Oh god, Stevie please.’

   But when he finally pulled back and looked up, the _sight_ nearly made him come in his boxers. Eli was trembling, hand covering his mouth to keep from making even more noise, breath coming out in broken pants, a blush that spread from the tip of his ears all the way to his chest. “S-Stevie.” He whispered, pupils blown.

    “Oh my god.” Steve groaned, drinking up the sight. He hugged him tightly and gripped Eli’s ass, kneading the flesh and suddenly rolling his hips up into him, making Eli let out a breathy little cry. “You.” He spoke right into Eli’s ear, each word punctuated by snapping his hips up. “Have. No. Idea. How. Gorgeous. You. Are.”

    Eli let out a whine, moving his hips down in time with how Steve moved up, making the two of them gasp in delight. It was too hot, way too hot, he felt like he was going to melt if this went on any longer. He placed his hands on Steve’s chest and moved back to look at him. “I want…” he trailed off, looking away in embarrassment. Steve halted his movements, waiting for Eli to finish his thought. Eli swallowed, moving one of his hands down Steve’s chest, settling on the top of Steve’s underwear, fingering the waistband. “I want to see you. I-I want you, Stevie.” He said shyly, even as his eyes burned into Steve’s.

    This surprised him, eyes widening slightly at the words. “A-are you sure?” He asked, he was fine with just this much; the last thing he would ever want would be to make the other uncomfortable.

    Eli bit his lip and nodded. “Please?” Steve nodded as well before laying them both down on the bed, crawling on top of Eli, kissing up his chest, peppering Eli’s face with kisses, chuckling at the way Eli giggled and squirmed at that. Steve planted a chastity kiss on his lips before sitting up, face red as he hooked his hands on his boxers, slowly tugging them down his hips.

 

   

     

   He wanted to throw a goddamn chair. Why did his own mind always have to cockblock him right before the good part? Eli, didn’t open his eyes yet as if keeping them closed would mean that he was still asleep, still in the dream. God, that dream was definitely one of the bests so far. Eli flushed and bit his lip, squirming as he recalled the way that imaginary Steve and imaginary him had been moving against each other.  

   Eli rocked his hips forward, remembering, still caught up in the hazy blissfulness of sleep and letting out a small moan as he almost felt that same friction again. He moved forward again, whining at how he could still practically feel what he had been in the dream. “F-Fuck. _Oh_.” He hooked his leg around his little illusion, mind waking up and realizing that he wasn’t imagining the warmth next to him.

   His eyes fluttered open and he was greeted with Steve’s face less than a foot away from him, face a shade of red that had never been invented, eyes the size of saucers and mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, no sound coming out, Eli was currently on his side pressed against him. Eli’s eyes widened as well. So that was actually Steve he had his leg around, so that was actually Steve that made him warm, so that was-Steve’s leg shifted a fraction of an inch but it was enough to make Eli realize just what he had been moving against. So Eli did the only logical thing that he could.

   He screamed.

  Eli let out a scream making Steve let out a shout as well, both flying apart. Eli hit the wall, hissing at the pain the raced through him at that, Steve toppled over the side of the bed, tangled in his blanket and falling on his ass.

    “What the hell-what happened-when did you-what the crap Steve?!” Eli shouted, covering himself with his bedsheet as if he were nude.

    “Me?! You were the one making _noises_ and-and-fuck!” Steve yelled back, face bright red. He leapt to his feet and dashed out the door, entering the bathroom across the hall and slamming the door shut behind him, locking it.

    Steve had his back against the door as if someone might break in at any moment, panting heavily. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to wrap his head around what the hell had just happened. “Oh god-what-he-oh fuck.” Steve stammered before pinching himself. Nope, this was not some twisted dream. He buried his face in his hands, groaning. Why the fuck had he ran of the room like that?

   Even though he didn’t need an answer the tightness of his pyjama pants happily provided one. Why had he done any of that? He had just woken up to find something poking him, Eli mumbling something in his sleep before letting out a moan that had made Steve freeze and realize just _what_ was poking him and just _what_ Eli had been mumbling about, well not what, it was too mumbled to make out but the _tone_. What could he have done? Wake him up and say ‘Hey Eli, do me a favour and stop having a wet dream, thanks buddy’. And while he was trying to figure out what the hell to do and just how to handle it Eli had woken up and then that whole screaming mess had happened.

    Which brought Steve to where he was now, hiding in a bathroom with his problem. Could things have gone any worse?

    “Elijah what happened?! Are you alright?!” Eli’s mother called, Steve could hear her running up the stairs. Fuck. He just had to have asked didn’t he?

   “I’m fine mom but don’t-” Eli began before he was cut off by his mother screaming.

    “Elijah Leslie Pepperjack what happened to you?! What happened to your eye!?” She shouted.

    “Kill me.” Steve groaned, leaning his head back against the bathroom door. The two members of the Pepperjack family voices mixed together, each shouting, Eli’s mother demanding explanations and Eli trying to explain only to be drowned out by his mom. Steve wondered if jumping out the bathroom window was an option at this point.

   “Okay hush!! I’m getting the first aid kit!!” Eli’s mother announced, effectively hushing her son. Steve was really on a roll today wasn’t he?

   “Mom, wait! Someone’s in there!” Eli called after her.

    “What?!” She shouted. The doorknob jiggled making Steve jump. Now he was very grateful that he had locked it. She rapped at the door. “Who’s in there?” she asked, not screaming anymore, just talking loud enough to be heard from the other side. Steve kept quiet for two reasons, he had no idea what to say and he did not want to face Eli’s mom on a rampage. The door banging did not spark the pleasantest of memories.

   “ _Who_ is it?” she demanded once more, sounding impatient. “Are you the one who hurt my son?!” she accused.

   “Mom! He would never-!”

   “Steve Palchuk, Miss Pepperjack. And no I didn’t hurt Eli.” He replied, cutting Eli off, voice wavering slightly. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to push back the dark memories that the screaming and door pounding brought up.

    “Aren’t you the delinquent that went for a joyride with Elijah and wrecked my car?!” She shouted. Of course she remembered that. “I was wondering what that motorcycle was doing on my front yard!”

   “Mom he is _not_ a delinquent!” Eli yelled, appalled that she would even say that. “Stevi-Steve, are you alright?” Eli asked, noticing the slight shake in Steve’s voice. He now sounded like he was right outside the door.

   “I’m fine. I was just reminded of…you know.” Steve explained, speaking quietly. Eli had known about the whole situation with Steve’s father since they had first become friends; he was the only one that Steve even spoke about it with.

    “Mom, you’re scaring him!” Eli scolded. Steve could have either laughed or cried. He was a good head and a half taller than Eli, he was one of the big athletes at school, and he could literally pick Eli up. Yet Eli was reprimanding his _mother_ that _she_ was scaring _him_ , the car stealing, joy riding, delinquent. Steve wanted to throw the door open and shower Eli with kisses. However now was not the best time to act on his impulses.

    There was a long silence all around before Ms. Pepperjack sighed. “I expect both of you to be downstairs in ten minutes to explain exactly what the hell is going on.” Steve didn’t take her as the type to curse easily, especially with how Eli was, so that combined with her tone, oh yeah she was pissed.

   “Thank you.” Eli breathed, the relief evident in his voice.

   “You’re not of the hook yet so don’t thank me.”

    “Thank you.” Eli repeated.

    Steve heard descending footsteps and let out his own sigh of relief. “Damn…” he muttered under his breath. “Eli? Are you still there?”

    “I’m here. Are you alright?” he asked, sounding worried.

    “Yeah…listen I’m sorry for scaring you earlier.” Steve apologized, crossing his arms and leaning against the door. He no longer had a ‘problem’, screaming mothers out for blood and remembering his bastard of a father kind of killed the mood.

   “Oh! Ah-that-that was my fault-um I’m sorry about… _that_. I was asleep I swear!” Eli said quickly and Steve could practically see the blush that Eli was sure to have.

   “I mean I did say that you were going to be stiff in the morning but I didn’t mean it that way.” Steve said smugly, laughing when he heard Eli choke on air.

   “Steve! Shut uuup!” Eli shrieked, red up to his ears. Honestly, only Steve would make a vulgar joke like that about the situation, which is why he hated that he laughed as well. Once their laughter dies down Eli spoke again, biting his lip, debating whether he should mention it or not. “H-Hey um Stevie, w-when _that_ happened, I uh felt something that m-might have not been your leg? Were you-”

   “Well your mom’s waiting downstairs to kill us both; we wouldn’t want to miss that now would we?” Steve cut in, exiting the bathroom and going down the stairs, pulling Eli (who was still wrapped up in his blanket) along with him.

 

 

    “-And that’s why Steve stayed over.” Eli finished explaining. They were all seated around the long island in the middle of the kitchen.

    Eli’s mother, who Steve had learned was named Leslie, took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “And you couldn’t be bothered to call me I suppose?”

    “He didn’t want to worry you; we were planning on telling you this morning just not the way that we ended up doing, I’m sorry.” Steve said, apologizing for about the hundredth time.

    “I suppose that I should thank you for patching Elijah up and making sure that he was safe.” Leslie said, taking a sip of her cup of coffee. Eli had a mug as well, he had offered to Steve but he declined, he didn’t really have a taste for it. Plus it was eleven in the morning, who the hell drinks coffee at almost noon?!

    Eli sighed. “Thanks-”

    “At least I should but then again since becoming friends with you Elijah’s been riding motorcycles, joyriding, taking my car, coming home late at night, getting detention, wearing this black paint on his face and at this point I’m ninety percent sure that you two are in a cult or something.” She continued, putting the cup down with more force than necessary.

    Steve winced. Well when you put it like _that…_ Yeah that sounded pretty bad. “Well we stopped putting the black paint on?” he said and immediately wanted to bash his head into the nearest wall. A facepalm wasn’t enough, he needed a wall. Face-wall.

    Luckily his partner in crime was quick to jump in. “Everything you just said was just a onetime thing, a short lived rebellious stage, Steve had nothing to do with it. And I can assure you that we’re not in a ‘cult’ as you put it. And for the millionth time it’s a _Vespa_ not a motorcycle and we wear helmets.”

    “And you having someone stay over without my permission? That’s a ‘onetime’ thing too?” Leslie snapped, glaring daggers at her son.

   “That is my fault, I insisted on staying over since Will and the others took his keys. I should have asked for permission, sorry. And I’m also sorry about the car, I never properly apologized for that.”

    “You also never properly explained exactly why you took the car in the first place.” Leslie said, crossing her arms.

   “Ah…it’s just that I read that babies like car rides so I wanted to do the same for Flip-uh the flour sack? It was a stupid idea.” Steve lied. At least she wasn’t yelling at Eli anymore.

    “An incredibly stupid idea, you could have gotten the two of you killed.” She said through gritted teeth. Eli made a noise of protest but Leslie just held her hand up. “You’ve had your chance to talk, Elijah Leslie Pepperjack.” Eli fell quiet and she turned her attention back to Steve. “Did you parents even know about that happening and of the fact that you’re here right now even after doing that?”

    “It’s just me and my mom and yes she did know and yes she knows that I’m here.” Steve replied. Coach had said last night that he would be there at noon and Steve was desperate for someone to interrupt the conversation, even if it was Gunmar himself.

    “No dad?” She didn’t wait for Steve to answer before continuing. “Well that certainly explains the hostile behaviour due to lack of a father being around that you express through rebellion and-”

   “Mom! Do not pull your therapist talk on him! And not definitely not about that! Pot calling the kettle black much?!” Eli shouted, cutting his mother off, glaring. ‘I’m sorry’ he mouthed to Steve, absolutely appalled that his mom would use that. It’s not like Eli himself had a father figure. It seemed to be a running theme amongst the boys of Arcadia High.

    Leslie opened her mouth and closed it again. Even with how angry she was she knew that hadn’t been the right thing to say. “I-”

    “With all due respect Miss. Pepperjack, it wasn’t a lack of a father being around, it was him being around too much if you know what I mean. My mom was enough to divorce him and come over here and she’s now dating my Coach. It’s weird I’ll admit but if I had to choose a father figure it would be him, he can be strict but he is fair but any choice he makes he does with me and my mom in mind. Now if it’s alright with you I would like to drop the subject of the car-not that that’s not important-but the issue right now is that Eli was hurt. That’s why I’m here, for him, to help him with what happened, so I don’t think past mistakes that I’ve made will help in the present.” Steve said, interrupting but for a good reason.

    Leslie was quiet momentarily before nodding and looking from Steve to her son. “Your…friend is more mature then he seems to be at first glance.” She said, her tone different. Pleased? Surprised?

    Eli nodded in agreement, giving a shy smile to his friend.. Now would be a bad time to tackle and hug him right?

    There was a knock on the door and Leslie stood up, setting her mug down, considerably softer than the previous times where Steve thought that the cup might shatter. “Excuse me, and I apologize for my previous behaviour, Steve.”

    “It’s cool, I get overprotective of the little soldier too.” Steve said, waving it off.

    Leslie blinked before nodding and going to answer the door, leaving the two boys alone. There was an awkward silence for a moment. Steve was the one to break it. “Sooo, that’s your mom.”

   “Yeah.”

    “Not the way I was planning on meeting her but yeah, she seems nice? Ah I wish that I could have met her in a different scenario, or a different universe where I hadn’t slammed her car into a goddamn pole.” Steve groaned, laying his head on the countertop. He wondered if Jim had problems like this with Claire’s parents.

    “She’s like that, it’s not you. She was just still in work mode and yeah, she can do that without knowing and I’m really sorry about what you said but Stevie…did you seriously mean all that? Because that was just…”

    “A big mushy mess and yes I did, I’m not going to lie to your mom, well unless she asks ‘hey Steve you don’t take me son to spooky caves to train with Trolls right?’”

    “I was actually going to say that that was beautiful and I’m fairly certain that it’s the best speech someone in nothing but pyamas could ever hope to give.” Eli said, taking another sip of his coffee and curling a piece of hair around his finger.

    “Oh stop, you’re flattering me.” Steve laughed, even though he was a slight shade of pink. “And if you tell Lawrence one word about what I said about that whole father figure thing I’ll make you walk to the caverns today.”

    “We both know you wouldn’t.” Eli pointed out with a smirk. Both of them looked away at the same time, the morning’s event still fresh in their mind. Oh today was going to be awkward. What fun.

     Conveniently Leslie decided to show up at that moment with Coach Lawrence in tow. “I assume that this is the same Coach that you were talking about.” She said with a smile that was the polar opposite of her frigid behaviour earlier. Probably due to Lawrence’s presence.

    Since Steve couldn’t exactly do the universal cut throat motion of ‘shut up’ he just mentally facepalmed. “Uh yeah, he’s the one. Hey Coach.” He greeted, giving a little salute.

    “Hey Steve, did you sleep well?” Lawrence asked. There was something hidden there though, Steve just couldn’t put his finger as to what it could be.

    “Like a baby, thanks. Did you and mom have a nice movie night?” he questioned politely. Yes the whole situation was still weird as hell to him but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to be nice. As he had already said, he kind of admired Lawrence.

     “We did actually, thanks for asking.” Lawrence replied, genuinely surprised that Steve had asked, he rarely did so he took it as a good sign, plus with what Eli’s mom had told him.

    “Coach Lawrence was planning on telling me more about the incident and what course of action should be taken.” Leslie explained. “Elijah do you want to stay for that? You don’t have to of course; you’ve explained your side of the story enough.”

    “If it’s all the same then I’d like to go, Steve and I have somewhere to be.” Eli said, fiddling with the end of his blanket.

    Leslie opened her mouth as if to protest but snapped it shut. Even if she didn’t exactly like Steve at the moment the least she could give him was some human decency. And with the way that Elijah’s eyes lit up how could she say no? “Fine, fine, just don’t be out too late.”

    “Thanks mom!” Eli exclaimed, he had been worried that she was going to say no. He gave her a quick hug and went up the stairs with a speed that he should not be moving at, yelling a ‘Hold on I’m going to shower!’ behind him. Steve chuckled and shook his head before heading over to the freezer and pulling out the bag of peas. It would be a good idea to ice Eli’s eye one more time before they left.

    “Erm Steve?” Leslie asked, asking said person stopped at the entrance of the kitchen, turning around. “Thanks for staying with Eli, I would have done it myself had I known but my working hours aren’t the best ones, he’s used to an empty house but it’s good that you were here.”

    “No problem,” Steve replied, waving it off. “Besides, Eli already mentioned that you work late.” He wanted to smack his head against the wall as soon as the words were out of his mouth. ‘Oh yeah, no way _that_ had any hidden implications, good job Steve’ he chided himself. “So uh yeah.” He finished lamely before going up the stairs.

 

    An hour later (give or take) they were both showered and dressed, on their way to the Arcadia mountains. Given the fact that neither had had breakfast they had picked up some burgers to eat once they arrived, kind of like a plain brunch. The ride there was a bit awkward given the close proximity of the two but they both chose to ignore it. They would be back to their normal routine soon enough.  

   The slide down to the caverns made Eli wince, each bump making him discover another bruise or sore spot. Steve had asked him if he had been sure about wanting to come down but of course Eli had to be stubborn. Luckily Steve had gone down first and helped him up once he reached the bottom. Some muscle rub was definitely going to be Eli’s friend later as was a least a week’s worth of sleep.

    “Ah young Eli, Sir Steve! I’m so glad to see the two of you!” Blinky said, instantly appearing out of nowhere to greet them with Aargh, relief flooding his voice.

   “Hi mister Blinky, Aargh.” Eli chimed happily, not able to keep himself from giving them a hug, he had missed them as well, and after everything seeing them was just what he needed.

    “Yikes that’s rather nasty.” Blinky couldn’t help from commenting, taking in the red bleeding into purple bruise around Eli’s eye. “But I’m glad to see that you’re not any worse for wear. At least I don’t think you are, you look like Jim after a not so successful mission.”

   “I’m fine mister Blinky.” Eli chuckled, even as he self-consciously touched the wound. “Stevie patched me up.”

   “Rightly so, now have they found the ruffians who did this and how soon is the execution?” Blinky asked, dead serous.

    “Whoa there Blinky, chill, now while I’m not disagreeing with you murder is frowned upon by society but I’m sure that their parents will be called and they’ll get what’s coming to them.” Steve replied, holding his hands up in a ‘calm down’ gesture, even Aargh looked pissed.

    “Geez you all shouldn’t be so worried, for the last time I’m fine.” Eli said with an awkward chuckle, face a bit pink. He hadn’t meant to worry anyone. ‘Damn it, Mr. Mori.’ He mentally cursed. “So what are we doing today?”

    “First of all we’re having lunch.” Steve said, pulling a burger out of his backpack and handing it to the other. “I don’t need you passing out or anything.”

    Eli rolled his eyes but accepted the food anyway. “Aren’t doctors supposed to encourage eating fruits and vegetables?” he asked, unwrapping the burger and taking a bite. His stomach growled as if on cue. Okay maybe he had been a just a little hungry.

     “Oh my god when are you going to drop that?” Steve groaned dramatically.

    “Never. I am never dropping that, you got to have Leslie, I get to have doctor, it’s the universe’s way of keeping things balanced.” He declared.

    “What are you going to go into another science crisis if it doesn’t?” he asked with a smug look.

    “One time Stevie! That happened one dang time!” Eli reminded, letting out an angry little huff.

    “Smell.” Aargh rumbled who up until now had been looking at them curiously as if they were some complex puzzle, cutting off the banter before it turned into full blown old married couple bickering.

   “Huh?” the Creepslayerz asked nearly simultaneous.

    “Steve’s smell, different.” Aargh elaborated.

    “I used a different soap today, thanks for noticing.” Steve answered with a shrug. Such a statement normally would have come out in some kind of sarcastic tone but hey, could he really get iffy if the Troll just so happened to have a strong sense of smell?

    Aargh quirked his head in a way that resembled a curious songbird but nodded and dropped the subject. Why did humans have to shower anyway? They shower, get rid of old smells, put new smells on, covered those smells with different ones and then just repeated the whole process again. So odd. Besides, Aargh wasn’t just smelling soap, he had caught whiffs of whatever it was before, knew that humans released new smells whenever they were happy or had…what was it? Butterflies? They seemed to have a different smell for different feelings. And why would they go around swallowing live insects just to let them live in their stomach?

   So odd.

 

    “I really don’t understand the point of this exercise.” Steve said as Eli and him walked through the main cavern, weaving through the Trolls that resided there. It was amazing to see how far the place had progressed; it was startling how fast they could work. Blinky must be really good at leading them and getting them to rally together.

    “Blinky thinks that we should get to know some of the people that we’re trying to help, Jim did the same thing. It’s good for building trust between us and them and will make the Trolls more likely to listen to us if something happens.” Eli said, practically echoing what Blinky had told them. He also took in how the Trolls had fixed the place and felt his heart hurt. He had had so many ideas in that notebook, true he still had some of the original drafts of those ideas but it wasn’t the same.

    Steve caught the look on the other’s face and reached out, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. “So do you want to just walk around and talk or try talking to some of these guys?”

   “Both. Neither? Ugh this is like one of those awkward parties where someone drags you there but then ditches you so you just stay awkwardly in the corner the whole time till they remember about you.” Eli muttered, talking just loudly enough for Steve to understand him, he had gone rigid when Steve had first grabbed his hand but willed himself to relax. However that didn’t calm down the fire on his face.

    “You’ve been to a party? When? You seemed pretty down to dance on the Spring Fling thing.”

    “That was different; it was actually enjoyable to some extent. It wasn’t a party exactly but my mom dragged me to these convention things? Basically a bunch of kinds of doctors and their kids, half of which had lived in a bubble their whole life, the other half looked like they could kill you fifty different ways using only their toe nail. This happened before I met you so you can guess which group I fell into, I had to wait until my mom was done talking with just about every single person there.” Eli said, practically shuddering at the horrid memory.

    Steve snorted before hiding it with a cough when Eli glared at him. “Um that sounds awful and I’m sorry for laughing but seriously? With their toe nail?” he snickered. Eli rolled his eyes and grinned as well. “Lucky for you I don’t think these guys have toe nails and I won’t dump you in a corner. So what do you want to do?”

    Eli sighed, giving up. “Let’s just uh-let’s start with her, she always seemed nice.” He said pointing to Bagdwella. “She always has that umbrella with her. Her name’s…something with a B.”

    “Bagdwella.” Steve replied, tugging on Eli’s hand and going over to her. At least he was going to before Eli stopped.

    “Wait how do you know that?”

    Steve rolled his eyes. “I may have had one or two short talks with her; I had to do _something_ while you were nerding out with Blinky and getting lost in caves. She has the umbrella because she likes from the human world, she’s sort of a collector. I already have this thing worked out with her that when she gets her shop back you two can swap things and nerd out, now let’s go soldier.” He began walking again, the other not resisting this time. “Hello Bagdwella, how are you today?” Steve asked politely.

    “Sore and cranky, same as every morning-afternoon-however time works up here, and how are you?” she answered.

   “Hm good, Blinky has us walking around and making friends, speaking of which this is Eli. I never properly introduced you two.”

   “Right, right, he’s the tinier one.” Bagdwella said, her form of saying nice to meet you to Eli. “Those are nice.” She complimented, pointing at Eli’s glasses. She didn’t question the wounds since she had seen Jim hurt more than a few times.

   “Er thanks, I’m Eli, nice to meet you. So Steve told me you collect things and that you had a shop back in Trolls Market. What kind of things did you have?”

    Her eyes lit up. “Oh just about everything.”

 

    After talking with Bagdwella for some time they continued on their way and talking to different Trolls, each one telling them a story. It was a delightful clash of cultures, the Trolls curious of the surface world and the Creepslayerz of the hidden unground world. They understood why Blinky had encouraged them so much to talk. It was just…amazing, how Trolls had influenced humans and vice versa. Trolls had had their own language before meeting humans and picking up their language. Now that original language was just used in old scripts, by the elders, etc. And Eli would be damned if he didn’t learn how to speak it. There were a few Trolls who recalled some of it and you can bet that Eli had longer conversations with them.

    It wasn’t just languages that had been influenced by the two worlds, artwork, traditions, games. While Eli geeked out Steve just had casual conversations while making sure that the other didn’t wander too far. Because even though the Trolls had changed tremendously since Jim became the Troll hunter there were still those who chose to cling to past times, to that intolerance. For Pete’s sake it wasn’t as if Steve and Eli had personally been in that war. Ah well, Steve could take a few glares and Eli was oblivious to it but if anybody tried getting physical…

    “No I don’t know the exact ingredients of Ding Dong cakes.” Steve answered for the third time. He was starting to regret introducing the Trolls to human food. True, he and Eli had found out that they prefer scraps and things like that more but some had found junk food somehow. He thought that they had only brought stuff from the dump. Who throws away Ding Dongs? Then again maybe they had expired. Did Ding Dongs even have an expiration date?

    “Hey Stevie!” Eli exclaimed, running over to him, face aglow. Steve smiled and rolled his eyes. What had the nerd learned this time? “B’tliç!”

    “Huh?” he could have sworn that Eli had just said something like be tea lick or something.

    “It means hello.” Eli beamed. “I made notes and things like that! Some parts sound like Norse while others sound sort of like…what was it called? Slavic? Yeah Slavic I think. It’s like all of the languages just mushed together. Stevie what if that’s how some languages were invented?! That they just took some words from this, some words from that!?”

    Oh god not those puppy eyes. Steve mentally groaned, wondering if it would be too extreme to whack Eli with a paper that had ‘You’re adorkable!’ in huge bold letters. “What other words do you know?” Steve asked. He didn’t care if he didn’t understand one word of it, the way that the words rolled off Eli’s tongue intrigued him; plus it would mean that he wouldn’t have to answer anymore Ding Dong questions.

 

   They stayed till nearly seven, with Eli’s mom home they couldn’t really stay longer than that. Blinky and Aargh once again wished for Eli to have a swift recovery. Eli thanked them but he couldn’t help but feel as if the possible training day had been wasted, even if he had learned some new things. If only he had run faster. Eli rested his good cheek on Steve’s shoulder during the ride home and didn’t try to make conversation; something that the other knew wasn’t a good sign.

    “Hey Eli,” Steve began, grabbing Eli’s wrist when he started climbing off the Vespa. “Come on, what’s wrong?”

    Eli sighed, no use in lying. “We couldn’t do anything because of me. And everyone just keeps _looking_ at me like I’m going to break. I…If I had was stronger like you I could have run faster I…”

    “Eli,” Steve sighed as well, pulling the other to stand so he could speak directly to him, Steve stayed sitting on the Vespa, though he did change his sitting position. “I’m pretty sure that Blinky had run out of ideas of what he could do because he would always train Jim bruised or not; or he was busy with some political Troll thing, or he just really wanted us to get to know them, to know what we’re working for. Okay?”

   “I guess,” he said with shrug looking at the ground before looking up and giving Steve a smile that could melt Antarctica. “When did you get so poetic? First this morning, now this, who are you and what have you done with my Stevie?”

   Steve huffed out a laugh, face dusted with a blush at Eli calling him his before smirking. “Oh you think that was good? What if I were to say that we’re not looking at you because we think you’re going to break, it’s because seeing you like that breaks us. It breaks _me_ to see you upset and have no clue how to fix it except offer my idiotic presence that you claim helps.” He said quietly.

    Eli forgot how to breathe. His eyes widened and he felt as if his heart was going to explode. Did Steve just…had he really said…holy crap Steve if you say things like that…what did you do to me?

    “Okay I just made things awkward didn’t I?” Steve asked with an awkward laugh, letting go of Eli’s wrist and rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

    His heart hurt, thudded against his chest, Eli really, _really_ wanted to kiss him, if this was a movie or a book that’s what would be happening. But instead he couldn’t because real life was a bitch, real life made his heart hurt, real life kept him frozen in place, real life made his wrist burn from where Steve had grabbed him. “You didn’t make things awkward.” Eli chuckled softly. “You just surprised me, that’s all.” That’s not all.

    “Oh.” Steve said dumbly. They both said nothing for a moment, Steve sitting on his Vespa, Eli rocking on the back of his heels on the sidewalk. 

   “Elijah are you coming in yet or not?!” Leslie yelled from the kitchen window, making them both jump and flush. Luckily their conversation could not be heard from where she was.

   “Coming mom!” he called, he gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I have to go. See you tomorrow, and again thanks…for everything.” Eli said, turning to leave.

   Once again Steve grabbed his wrist halting him and making him turn around. “Um I was going to ask after you know what tomorrow but uh there’s this movie playing that the cinema…uh I heard it’s good.” He said, ears red, not quite meeting Eli’s eyes.

  “Oh, okay you should go see it.” Eli said with a shrug, the people reading this crap not believing how dense he could be.

  Steve facepalmed with his free hand. “I do want to see it but I was wondering if you wanted to see it with me too?” he inwardly cringed at how he had worded it and waited for an answer. It was worded in a way that could be seen as a friendly invite or…

    “Oh. Oh! Ah, well…”

   “It’s cool if you don’t want to I mean we spent yesterday watching movies and that was fun so I just thought that maybe it would be cool to watch one out and popcorn and things like that, I mean only if you’re cool with that idea, if not then that’s cool too.” Oh god Steve wanted to punch himself. How many times had he said the word cool?!

    “N-no! I mean yeah! I mean it would be cool, I’d love to.” He replied, pleased with how he had only stammered once.

    “Cool.” Steve said, mentally relaxing and letting out a breath that he didn’t know that he had been holding.

    “Cool.” Eli repeated.

   “So tomorrow after training, don’t forget soldier.” Steve turned in his seat and revved the Vespa and speeding off before Eli could say goodnight too.

   “Elijah! I need to change your bandages!” Leslie yelled, snapping him out of it.

   Eli walked to the house, got his bandages changed and had dinner while his mom told him about what she and the coach had talked about, Eli not processing a word of it. He did the little bit of weekend homework that had been assigned, it was almost summer so there wasn’t much. His mom walked in as he finished up the last part of it, saying something about going to the pharmacy and buying more supplies and reminding Eli to ice his eye. She no doubt had run out with how she had mummified his arms and legs and was probably going to buy twenty different pain medicines that Eli really didn’t need.

   It wasn’t until he heard the car drive away that Eli finally snapped out of his shock and bellowed at the top of his lungs “DID STEVE FUCKING PALCHUK JUST ASK ME ON A DATE?!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That part at the beginning thoouuuuuuuuuuugghhhhh *squeals and hides in dumpster* God I need to be in a fucking Zen mode to write crap like that XD If it wasn't clear, that first part [( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)] was a dream. I thought that I had made it as clear as Steve's gayness for Eli but just in case.  
> I HAD FOUR VACCINES YESTERDAY AND I'M 99.9% SURE THAT ONE WAS THE FUCKING BUBONIC PLAGUE! I AM SO STIFF (Not in that way perverts) IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY JUST AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH BRING ME DEATH!  
> How are Trolls born? Like how was Bular even born? :/ Random question of the day.  
> Steve loves pet names. You cannot convince me otherwise. Also the whole coffee at nearly noon thing. Pfft, amateurs. Me, I drink coffee at whatever time.


	9. Date Or Not A Date? That Is The Question.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What was Eli even supposed to do at the movies? Talk with him? Sit in silence? Did that whole ‘yawning to put your arm around someone’ thing actually work? Well Steve often had his arm around his shoulder so casually without any tricks. Eli let out another frustrated groan. Was it a date or not?! Did Steve even like boys? Eli didn’t want to get his hopes up to just fall for another straight boy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introducing new characters!!  
> THE DATE!!!!!!!!!  
> *whispers* Yolo *and fades into the shadows drinking tea*

   “Hide and seek?” Steve deadpanned. “First we have to find our way through the caves now you want us to play hide and seek?”

    “No, I want to see how well you can read each other’s movements, you two explored the caves together so odds are better that you’d be able to find together. And I’d really wish that you’d stop repeating my instructions with such sarcasm.” Blinky replied, crossing his four arms.

    “Sorry, Blinky.” Steve apologized sheepishly. His nerves were on the absolute edge. He had at least expected Eli to text him last night, ask what movie they were going to see, something. But he hadn’t gotten a single message. And Eli was somewhat avoiding to look at him. He had so fucked up.

    “So who’s going to hide and who’s going to seek?” Eli questioned, shifting where he stood, placing most of his weight on one leg and switching again. All of his cuts had scabbed over so he had been able to talk his mom out of mummying his limbs again. She had been home when Steve had swung around to pick him up. Eli could swear that she kept looking at the other strangely but at least she wasn’t glaring.

    “Sir Steve will hide while you look for him.” Blinky explained, “He will of course have time to hide first, about ten minutes or so.”

   “Sounds fair enough.” Steve nodded before turning to Eli. “Try to keep up.”

   Eli rolled his eyes with a smile. “Try to not be too easy to find.”

   “Alright Sir Steve, your time starts…now!” Blinky exclaimed, dropping his arm as if it were a checker flag. Steve took off with a whoop that echoed through the cave, dashing into one of the tunnels, causing Eli to laugh so hard that he almost cried. What had the noise even been?! Some Tarzan on steroids crap?! After then minutes or so Blinky nodded to Eli who also took off, giving a battle cry of his own.

    After the smaller Creepslayer left Aargh gave Blinky a puzzling look who just sighed and shrugged. “Give me a break, I’ve never trained anyone who didn’t possess the amulet or at least some sort of weapon. I’ve been making things up as I go since they went on that food run. And I was too preoccupied with today’s meeting that I didn’t have time to plan anything specific.”

    Aargh nodded sympathetically, giving him a pat on the back. Blinky sighed and smiled. “Thanks old friend, now let’s go, one of the Trolls issued a complaint… _again_.” Blinky had never related so much with Vendel.

 

   Joy number one thousand and two of having a black eye: depth perception. Eli had almost tripped about ten times before sighing heavily and slowing his pace to a jog. On Monday walking through these dark musty caves alone might have freaked him out but now it was just soothing. Well then again he had run away into the caves on Monday so maybe not so much. He passed back a small colony of bats, twittering quietly and paused to admire them. Maybe the Creepslayerz logo should be a bat, they were all black and creatures of the night, plus Eli had the sight of one. Nah, that’s be too much like Batman or something.

    Eli reached a fork in the caves and paused. If I was Stevie which one would I take…? he pondered. He vouched for the right.

    As he walked he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen after the training. Sure they would go to the movies but then what? And why were they going to the movies? Yesterday had been one big mind fuck for Eli, from waking up as he did to Steve officially meeting his mother to when he had asked _that._

   He groaned and resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands. He had not slept well at all last night, that simple offer taunting him. Did he mean it as a friend? Or as… Steve had been awkward but that’s just because he had been awkward first right? Eli could be all logical bout science things and supernatural things but when it came to feelings…that was uncharted water. He had had crushes, had tried a relationship before out before but it had gone so badly that it left him scarred and afraid to try again.

    What was Eli even supposed to do at the movies? Talk with him? Sit in silence? Did that whole ‘yawning to put your arm around someone’ thing actually work? Well Steve often had his arm around his shoulder so casually without any tricks. Eli let out another frustrated groan. Was it a date or not?! Did Steve even like boys? Eli didn’t want to get his hopes up to just fall for another straight boy!

   “Fuck me.” Eli muttered under his breath. Strange how he had rarely cursed before becoming Creepslayerz with Steve, he really was a bad influence. A good bad influence.

   The tunnel he was in had a exposed to the sun so was surprised when two small lights shining farther back in the cavern where it was dark, glowing a nuclear green. Eli’s throat seized up, a million horror movie scenarios filling his head (he had seen It recently so that didn’t help). He blinked and nearly jumped out his skin when those glowing eyes blinked two before rushing at him with startling speed. Eli screamed, actually legitimately screamed when the owner of those eyes tackled him, his own eyes shutting. It was something small but that didn’t make him any less scared, didn’t keep him from screaming in fear.

   “What the-! You’re a kid! Aren’t you in sis’s class?” the thing spoke.

   Eli trembled on the floor as he opened his tear filled eyes to find what looked like a tiny Troll staring at him. Wait it wasn’t a Troll, he looked up to confirm that they were standing in sunlight. They were.

    “Oh gods you’re not crying are you? I didn’t _mean_ to scare you, well I did but not to the point that you’d start crying for Pete’s sake. And-geez you look like a bus hit you. Are you lost little guy?”

    Changeling. Eli’s brain finally supplied him with the word he had been searching for. The little Troll in front of him was a Changeling. “C-changeling.” Eli stuttered out, still on the floor with the Changeling standing atop his chest which was rising and falling frantically.

   “Eli!” Steve bellowed, voice echoing through the caves, filled with worry. “ ** _Eli_** _!_ Where are you?!”

   “I’m here!” Eli cried, looking away from the creature for a split second. Oh god was it going to kill him? Changelings worked for Gunmar didn’t they? Then again it had apologized for scaring him.

   Steve appeared and charged at them. “Get the _hell_ off him!” he shouted, looking like he was going to kick the runt off the other.

   “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait!” The Changeling shouted, waving his hands in surrender. “I’m a friend! Well at least someone on the same side. The name’s NotEnrique, guardian of the caverns.”

   “How do we know that you’re on the same side!?” Steve accused, he had stopped right in front of them but still looked like he would kick the thing.

   “Steve, Blinky explained that NotEnrique had taken the place of Claire’s brother Enrique for some time. He is on our side.” Eli explained, looking up at Steve from his place on the floor.

   “Oh right, well-hey did you make him cry!?” Steve yelled.

   “It was an accident!” NotEnrique insisted. “All I did was scare him a bit.”

   “Oh yeah? Then this is an accident too!” Steve moved back to kick the Changeling like a football, stooped only by Eli sitting up and holding a hand up. NotEnrique hurriedly scrambled off him.

   “It really was an accident, Stevie.” Eli confirmed, giving a wince as he sat up. God he was sore.

   Steve let out an angry huff of air but relaxed and helped Eli to his feet before slinging an arm around his should in case NotEnrique ‘attacked’ again. “What are you even doing here? I thought that you stayed with Claire.” He asked, eyeing NotEnrique warily.

   “Cool your jets, Sis wasn’t been feeling well especially at night so I was giving her some space. Blinky has me on sentry duty, making sure that no one trespasses and to warn him if any of Gunmar’s goons come snooping around hence why I jumped your little boyfriend, even although it looks like someone else got to him first.”

   Steve felt the other go rigid under his arm and almost flinched. Geez did the idea of that bother him that much? “We’re not-”

    “Ah I just assumed with how you guys were splashing around in that lake the other day, quite lovely isn’t it? I go there a lot myself. You both were just making puppy dog eyes at one another so I assumed-”

   “You assumed wrong.” Steve said with more heat than intended. “And it’s not nice to spy on people.”

   “I’m not a nice thing and you both were in _my_ space.” NotEnrique said with a smirk, leaning against the cavern wall and shooting them both an amused look. “Now, what are you two doing here, exploring _alone_ again, Blinky had mentioned that he had been training a couple of kids. That would be you two yeah?”

   Eli’s face heated up at the way NotEnrique said ‘alone’ but he cleared his throat and spoke anyway. “Yeah that would be us. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Eli said before dawning a look that Steve knew all too well. “Hey Blinky mentioned that once a Changeling’s familiar is brought back their growth stops. Why is that? And by that logic shouldn’t Strickler be dead because of how long his familiar has been in the Darklands. Do Changelings have a pre-determined familiar since birth or do they choose one? And-”

   “Oi, oi, oi! Zip it!” NotEnrique snapped, clapping his hands over his ears. “Good grief you must be Eli. Oh gods my head hurts.”

   “S-sorry.” Eli apologized sheepishly, awkwardly picking at the bandage on his cheek.

   “What does Blinky have you guys doing?” NotEnrique asked curiously.

   “Hide and Seek.” Steve mumbled.

    “Count me in, I’m as bored as a sack of rocks and could use the fun. Eli was looking for you yeah? I’ll help him.”

   “That wouldn’t be fair,” Eli shook his head. “It’d be too easy to find Stevie, you have an advanced sense of smell right? You go with him and I’ll find you both, you get a ten minute start again.”

   “Who said he’s playing!?” Steve asked.

    “I did.” NotEnrique said confidently, climbing onto Steve’s shoulder and sitting there like an over grown parrot.

   “Aw please? It’ll be fun! And NotEnrique looks kind of cute when he’s not scaring me in caves.” Eli said, he would have pet the Changeling but he didn’t know if it would appreciate that. NotEnrique gave his best puppy dog eyes and Steve jogging away with the Changeling and muttering something that sounded like ‘We already had a flour sack but nooo now we needa get a magical fairy baby.’

   “I’m not a fairy! Changeling! Chang-e-ling!” NotEnrique protested.

   “Shut it runt!” Steve snapped.

   Eli snorted before sitting back down on the cavern floor. Humming to himself softly. Well at least being tackled by a tiny semi-Troll had calmed him down, yes that had actually calmed him down. It had gotten him to stop fretting so much about the whole date not date, Steve had made it perfectly clear that NotEnrique was wrong about them being together…yeah that hadn’t hurt at all. He didn’t need to snap for Pete’s sake. Ah well, at least now Eli was certain that it was just an outing among friends. One hundred percent certain. Okay maybe ninety percent certain. Eighty…fuck it, he wasn’t certain about anything.

   After ten minutes he got up, dusted his pants off and started jogging in the same direction that he had seen Steve go. The bad thing was that Eli didn’t have a single doubt in his minds that NotEnrique knew these tunnels like the back of his hand, which if Steve took his suggestions would make him trickier to find. Ah who was Eli kidding? Steve? Take suggestions? Especially from a smart talking Changeling? Not a chance. There was another fork in the tunnels and this time Eli went left.

    He slowed his pace, dedicating himself to instead listen for little clues. He didn’t have NotEnrique’s huge ears but hey, he might just get lucky. And he did. Eli swore that he could hear a pissed off Steve yell something like “Shut up fairy child!” He silently and swiftly walked toward the noise and found himself in a small opening, like a little room. Stalagmites plastered close to the walls, the centre pretty much bare. The walls were covered in varying degrees of moss, much like in the lake room Stalactites hung from the ceiling gorgeously.

    “Oh wow…”Eli breathed, looking around. If he got like this just seeing this natural cave he was never going to survive seeing the magical place known as Troll Market. “I am so showing this to Stevie when I find him…” he continued absentmindedly.

    And then he was tackled for the second time that day.

    This time he was able to muffle his shout of surprise to a squeak. Eli had fallen belly down so he flipped himself over onto his back and was greeted with Steve laughing his ass off from atop him, hands on either side trapping him.

    “Ugh Steve you epic jerk!” Eli said, not really angry at all as he tried to supress a giggle.

    “It’s your fault for telling NotEnrique to go with me! He talked me into it!” Steve laughed. “Geez even though you’re supposed to be the one looking for me I’m pretty damn good at finding you.”

   “I’m pretty sure you’d be able to find me no matter where I was on the Earth.” Eli rolled his eyes.

    “Damn straight.” He agreed with a confident smile.

   “Stupid Jock.” Eli huffed, placing his hands on the other’s chest and trying to push him off to no avail. “Get offff.”

   “Make me you dorky nerd.” Steve smirked, leaning in closer as if daring him.

   “Put it back in your pants!” NotEnrique called from where he was seated on a rock. “Not boyfriends my ass!”

    The boys blushed heavily when they realized the suggestive position they were on, much like how they had been when they had fallen blindfolded and tied up except this time they could _see_. See in perfect detail each other’s faces, how close they were, how adorable the other was being, each feeling as if their heart would either explode or break from the sight of it. Eli dropped his hands from Steve’s chest, convincing himself that it was his own rapid heartbeat that he was feeling.

    “ _Hell-o_?!” NotEnrique called again.

   Steve gave Eli an awkward chuckle before climbing off him and standing, helping the other to do the same He waited until Eli was done dusting off his pants to speak. “Sooo is it my turn to seek now?” He asked.

 

 

“I-I don’t mind it but I’m just saying that it would be polite to shower before we go to the movies. In our own houses of course! I mean shower in our homes, I mean-”

   “Eli, I get it.” Steve chuckled even though he was nervous as hell too. Did Eli know that he was viewing this as a date? Oh god what if he didn’t? Oh this whole was going to be a train wreck! Steve gripped the handles of the Vespa tighter as he drove down the street to Eli’s house. Unfortunately Eli’s mom had weekends off so they couldn’t really linger outside awkwardly like they had done yesterday. “So I’ll go home and shower and pick you up in about half an hour or something?

    “Y-yeah, th-that sounds cool.” Eli stammered, getting off the Vespa and standing on the sidewalk, fidgeting in place.

   “Hey.” Steve said softly, placing a hand on Eli’s shoulder. “Even though the stuttering is cute I want to know that you’re comfortable with this, if you’re sore from training or you’re not feeling up to it we can cancel.”

    Eli flushed at the cute part and shook his head, taking a breath to relieve himself of any stammers. “It’s fine Stevie, I do want to go. I just don’t…go out much with friends. I’m just surprised that you want to go somewhere public with me.”

   Steve frowned, that statement hurting more than he had expected it to. He opened his mouth before Eli cut in again. “You know since I’m all banged up, I don’t want anyone looking at you strangely thinking you did it or something.”

    “Fuck what they think. I wouldn’t care if you were a Changeling, I’d still want to take you to the movies. Now I have to go shower if we want to make it on time so I suggest that you do the same, soldier.”

   “Yes sir.” Eli said with a salute and one of those goddamn smiles that made Steve’s stomach flip. Fuck, he would take him to the movies even if he was a goddamn Troll. Eli gave a wave goodbye before turning and bounding up the stairs to his front door with barely contained energy. This was happening. He burst into the house, waving a quick hello to his mother before rushing up the stairs and taking a shower.

   Now clothes were a whole different set of issues. Well cinemas were cold so no one could blame him if he didn’t go in his shorts right? After getting on underwear he rifled through his closet, trying to find something suitable. T-shirt, polo, t-shirt, oh god where did he get that stupid turtleneck?

   Eli changed shirts at least five times, green, blue, stripped red and white (uh he wasn’t trying to imitate a candy cane), yellow, orange. He groaned and settled for a black t-shirt, the national Creepslayerz colour. He tossed the other shirts back in his closet with a promise that he would clean it up later and shrugged into a pair of pants which he changed three times. Regular jeans, faded jeans or black ones? He settled for the regular ones. With that he put on one of his favourite jackets. It was green and kind of looked like a varsity style jacket with its high collar and white stripped cuffs. He shrugged before snatching up his green beanie, completing the ensemble. He looked at himself in the mirror and was surprised.

   He had actually managed to make himself look decent.

     Looking at his watch he saw that he had about ten minutes left. You know what that means! Time to count down everything that could go wrong! And Eli’s mind had a long ass list to offer. His favourite, and most creative so far was eating too much popcorn and puking in the middle of the film. Well that was a lovely image. Eli sighed and threw himself face first onto the bed and groaning dramatically. There was a knock on his door one second later.

    He jumped up and practically threw the door open, expecting it to be Steve. It was his mom. “Oh.” He couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice.

   “Oh.” His mom repeated in a teasing voice. “What were you expecting someone more important?”

   “N-no.” Eli stammered.

    “Ah then I should probably tell Steve who’s waiting downstairs that you aren’t.” Leslie said innocently even as she crossed her arms and gave her son the mom look.

    “Mooom!” Eli groaned, picking up his backpack from next to the door. He had already dumped his school supplies onto his desk and just had his Creepslayerz stuff in the bag. Hey, one could never be too careful. And it would totally be his luck for some kind of creature to attack them.

    “I’m just messing with you honey. And are you well enough to be going out? Your face is red.” She pointed out. “Do you want another ice pack or something?”

   “I’m fine mom.” Eli chuckled, face turning a shade redder as he excused himself and exited the room.

    “Elijah.” His mother called, stopping him at the first step. “I know that Steve helped you yesterday and that you consider him to be a really close friend and all but…this isn’t going to turn out to be another Andrew is it?”

   Eli’s stomach plummeted, momentarily frozen. “Mom I know that you don’t like Steve but please, don’t bring up Andrew and don’t compare Steve with him.” His voice was small.

   Leslie frowned; knowing that bringing the subject up was touchy. “I’m sorry, just forget I said anything, have a good time.”

    Eli muttered a quick thanks and continued going down the stairs, mood much darker than before. But when he opened the door and saw Steve standing there with a hopeful smile he immediately lightened. “Hey.” He greeted, noticing that Steve had also changed his usual attire. Red shirt, black jacket and faded blue jeans. Simple but it suited him perfectly.

   “Hey.” Steve repeated, giving Eli a once over, trying not to let his eyes linger anywhere. Eli fidgeted a bit, was he undressed? Overdressed? “You uh look nice.” He said before noticing Leslie trying to discreetly peek through the kitchen window. He groaned. Mothers. “Okay I think your mom is about to change her mind on letting you go out with the motorcycle delinquent so let’s go.” He started walking down the steps with Eli in tow.

   “It’s a Vespa!” Eli proclaimed. “And you’re not a delinquent so shush.” He easily settled onto the Vespa behind the other, it was a habit now with how many times he had ridden with him. He clipped on the helmet and smiled when he noticed Steve waiting for him to do so, he always did and it was a sweet gesture.

   “Whatever you say nerd.” Steve rolled his eyes and smiled before leaving the front of the house at a speed that would be sure to have Leslie yelling at her son later. Then again she would throw a fit if Steve had left at five miles per hour. His smile widened when Eli let out a small yelp and held on to him tighter at the sudden acceleration.

 

   “Did you get tickets for the right movie?” Eli asked, looking at the title cleanly printed on his ticket. Steve had refused to let him pay for his own ticket much to Eli’s annoyance. Although Steve had said that it would ruin the surprise.

   “Ah yeah…If you don’t want to see it it’s fine. It’s just that you mentioned how much you like circuses and I…I really like musicals to be honest.” Steve admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

   “No, no! It’s just that I thought that you’d want to see that horror one that’s showing! And I’ve wanted to see this movie since forever!” Eli quickly said, which was one hundred percent the truth. He was starting to wonder if Steve could read his mind. His fingers traced over the title: The Greatest Showman.

   “I already saw the horror one and you said that you like horror movies but you can’t sleep easily later. I figured that being scared by NotEnrique was enough terror for one day.” Steve said with a shrug, giving a sigh of relief that Eli didn’t laugh at his confession of loving musicals.

   “I did say that, thank you.” Eli recalled with a fond smile. He had said it once in some random conversation. “Now come on! We still need to find seats and things like that!” he grabbed Steve’s wrist and pulled him along before dropping it as if burned. “Sorry, ah…” he looked around to see if anyone they knew was there.

   Steve instantly felt guilty. Why had he made the whole ‘cover’ thing such a big deal? To the point that Eli wasn’t sure whether to even touch him in public. “Eli, forget the damn cover already.” Steve sighed. “You were right on Monday, Jim and the others already know about the Creepslayerz so just-it’s fine alright?”

    Eli looked at him with the widest eyes and the most shocked expression ever, like a kid at Christmas. “Seriously?”

   “I didn’t ask you to the movies for you to stand there and look pretty; I want to spend time with you.” Steve said softly, looking right at him. “Now let’s get the stupid popcorn and whatever.” He changed the subject, grabbing Eli’s hand and tugging him inside to the snack counter.

   “I-I’m paying this time!” Eli insisted once he got out of his slight shock.

   “Ha! In your dreams, nerd!”

   Eli ended up paying for the snacks with the most triumphant smile on his face.

 

    The theatre was relatively empty since the movie had come out a while ago, there were about fifteen people besides the two of them and at least seven of those fifteen were all a group, chatting loudly while they waited for the trailers to start running, everyone knows that the trailers are one of the best parts of going to the cinema. Steve’s hand twitched to get some nachos but he knew that if he did he would finish the whole bag before they were even ten minutes into the movie. They…the word spun around in Steve’s mind. He wasn’t the only one there; Eli was there too, subtly fidgeting in his seat.

   Oh god what he had been thinking?! Steve had wanted to ask Eli to the movies, someday, eventually, but not the day after he had been jumped! Oh no, Eli didn’t think that was _pitying_ him did he? And that whole thing with NotEnrique earlier! Nice going Palchuk, could you get any gayer? He instantly winced at the way that the words had formed in his head. He looked over at Eli as if the other could read his mind and as if on cue Eli looked back at him, gifting him with a smile which he returned with a sigh, some of the tension draining out of him. Why was Eli so darn cute?

    “I’m pretty sure that Hugh Jackman did this movie to remind everyone that he used to work on Broadway.” Steve said in a hushed voice even as the group on the other aisle spoke loudly.

   Eli laughed and nodded. “Probably, I’m just wondering if this movie will be based of the actual P.T Barnum or downplay it.”

   “What do you mean?”

   “Ah…it would spoil the movie, better off not saying anything till the end. One of the downsides to being a human encyclopaedia.” He replied with a shrug.

   Steve quirked an eyebrow but didn’t push it, the trailers finally started running and they both looked at the screen while making little comments in between. As soon as the actual movie started playing Steve _knew_ that he had chosen the right movie. Eli’s eyes lit up at the acrobats, tigers and elephants parading in on the screen, leaning forward in his seat. And the music…would it be bad if Steve listened to all of the songs on repeat once he got home?

    The whole thing was…well the Greatest Show. Just a phenomenal show of freedom, struggle and beauty put into song. Steve couldn’t find a way to describe it. He had already fallen head over heels with the movie, had already declared it to be the goddamn movie of the year…and then the song _Rewrite the Stars_ started playing and his throat just closed. Eli’s eyes were open wide, even letting out a gasp at the beautiful work of Anne on those ropes, twirling on them as easily as walking. It was mesmerizing to watch, impossible to comprehend.

    But Steve was captivated for a different reason than Eli. That song…it was them. It was just…them. He was Phillip offering those promises of not hiding yet shying away once they were out in the open and Eli was Anne, tired of hearing it, afraid to fall. It was tragically beautiful. Emotion choked at him which he tried to mask in the silent as a tomb theatre. It was just…

    “Nooo, don’t walk away from him.” Eli sighed under his breath, snapping Steve out of his trance.  Steve caught himself almost saying ‘I won’t’ but stopped before he did. “Oh god that was beautiful.” Eli breathed, leaning back in his seat. Steve managed to give a noise of agreement.

    Definitely his new favourite movie.

   Scratch that, Steve wanted to throw a book at the screen. Back the hell up Jenny! He’s married! She’s drunk on wine Barnum! Stop leaning! He mentally yelled. Across the aisle the heard one of the girls mutter “Oh god, they’re not going to kiss are they?”

    “They better not!” Steve yelled back. There was a moment of silence before the group burst into laughter. He heard Eli snort and laugh as well and looked down to find Eli leaning against him and trying to muffle his giggles. When had Steve put his arm around him?! Fuck that had really turned into a habit. Okay, calm down, it’s just the boy you have a crush on snuggling against you. No biggie…

 

    Why? Why had that movie been so perfect? Steve hadn’t seen a musical in forever and that had certainly made up for it. He had no words. He still had his arm around the other as they walked out of the theatre, Eli rambling about how it felt like they had been in an actual circus and how the awesome the singing was and just being Eli. “Nice way to spend a Sunday huh?” Steve sighed contently.

   “Totally!” Eli agreed, happiness singing through his veins like a drug. However he frowned a bit once they got to where the Vespa was parked. “Already?” he asked, not whining at all.

   “Sorry, little soldier, if it was up to me I would never return you but your mom already hates me enough.” Steve said with a shrug, strapping on his helmet and trying to not show his disappointment that their evening together was already over as he handed the other helmet to Eli.

   He sighed and strapped on his helmet as well and took his seat on the Vespa behind the other, wrapping his arms around his waist as if trying to hold onto the dream. The ride didn’t take nearly as long as either of them would have hoped. Eli got off even slower than normal, purposely lingering.

   “I uh…I had a really good time, thanks Stevie.” Eli said, a rosy colour to his cheeks.

   “I did too...”Steve agreed, trying to say something more but not finding the words.

   “So…goodnight.” He said with an awkward wave, turning to leave.

    ‘Don’t walk away from him…’, ‘Don’t walk away from him’, ‘Don’t walk away from him!’ Steve grabbed Eli’s hand for about the third time that day, halting him and making him turn back around.

   “Stevie? What is it?” He asked, obviously puzzled and nervous. His fidgeting had started up again.

   “Geez don’t look at me like that.” He groaned, covering his face with his free hand.

   “Like what? Steve is everything okay?” Eli asked, getting more worried by the second.

   “No! Nothing is okay!” Steve flared, making the smaller jump, he gave a quick apology before continuing, heart thudding fast in his chest, he felt as if he was on the verge of a heart attack. Eli was looking at him with that goddamn face, that face that looked concerned for him after everything he’d done, that face that made Steve’s stomach flip. Steve swallowed, throat feeling dry. Fuck it! “Eli, I-I want to make sure that my implications of this whole thing are clear…This movie thing, it wasn’t meant as-”

   “Elijah! You’re going to freeze, get in here!” his mother called from the kitchen window. Shit, Steve had forgotten that she was home so he hadn’t parked farther away, the result? Leslie had heard the Vespa and got suspicious when her son didn’t enter the house right away.

   “Coming mom!” Eli called over his shoulder before looking back at Steve. “It wasn’t meant as what?”

   “Nothing.” Steve practically spat, dropping Eli’s hand. He wasn’t angry with Eli, not by a long shot, he was angry at himself for being such a coward, even worse was that he could swear that he could hear his father’s voice saying ‘Well of course you are, have you ever been anything else?’ “It’s nothing.”

   “Stevie-” Eli began, voice soft, brows knitted together in worry.

   “Just go home Pepperjack, you’re hanging around for too long. Pretty sure some neighbours are going to get nosey and peek out the windows or something.” Steve snapped, turning back to the Vespa to not show how he was actually feeling. His toxic tongue was messing things up again.

  Eli’s eyes widened in hurt and confusion. Steve hadn’t called him that in so long, and especially not by that tone, that tone he would use when he used to slam him into lockers, that tone that was always accompanied with a sneer of disgust, that tone that was used for _cover_. Eli’s hands formed fists and shook at his sides. “Fine!” he shouted, turning on his heel and stomping toward the door.

    He managed to keep the act up until he had closed (slammed) the front door before he ran up the stairs to his room, ignoring his mother’s question as to what was wrong and threw the door of his room shut. It rattled on its hinges.

    Steve wasn’t any better off. He had messed up again, as always, always poisoning everything with the toxic tongue he had inherited. He barely remembered to put on his helmet, tearing off to his house, knuckles white with how tightly he was gripping the handles.

   “Honey? Is everything alright?” Steve’s mom, Susan, asked. She had been watching her shows when her son came storming in the front door, ripping off his jacket and practically throwing it at the coat rack. She was a little slip of a thing with light blonde hair rolling off her head in loose curls down to her shoulders, faint freckles adorning her face and bright blue eyes that were filled with concern.

   “Fine! Peachy keen! Everything is just fine!” he said through gritted teeth, breath coming out of in pants through his nose as he tried to calm down and desperately tried to not do anything stupid like cry. Why the hell would he be crying?

   Hadn’t Steve said that he was going to the movies with Eli? She remembered him as Steve’s first friend when they moved here and she had never seen her son smile before than when he was around him. Then they had moved apart for some reason but she had understood from Lawrence that they were getting close, _very_ close if she had understood correctly. “Honey if you’re having boy troubles you-”

    “I’m not gay!” Steve screamed, voice cracking. There was a moment of silence of Steve trying to regain his breath and Susan looking at her son sympathetically until he couldn’t take that look anymore. How many people were going to look at him that way? Steve ran a hand through his hair, breath still somewhat ragged. “I’m not…” he said almost to himself before setting his face. “I’m going to bed, goodnight.”

    Susan watched her son go to his room, movements stiff as if he would cave in on himself if he didn’t and felt her heart break a little. He hadn’t walked that way in so long. She wished that Lawrence was there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know when I originally wrote this chapter it ended with a confession and a kiss...ahahahahahahaha *sweats nervously* I'M PRETTY SURE THIS IS THE LAST COCKBLOCK? PLEASE DO NOT KILL ME (yet)!Okay, look, it's implied that Steve had an abusive father so of course he's going to be fucking insecure about these kinds of things.  
> Who is Andrew? I so want to do a backstory about him and Eli cause holy Hera my mind is fucked up. Maybe once I'm done with this story.  
> Um on the bright side Will hasn't in this story? IN SEASON THREE I NEED INTERACTION BETWEEN NOTENRIQUE AND STEVE! JUST IMAGINE THAT AND TRY TO NOT DIE!  
> LISTEN TO THIS SONG, I FOUND IT RECENTLY AND I WAS JUST LIKE "HOLY FUCK THIS IS STEVE AND ELI" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnhWQ00TYUM SEND A LIKE FOR ME SINCE I CAN ONLY LEAVE ONE ON THE VIDEO!  
> Oh and The Greatest Showman is the best movie ever, whoever doesn't agree with me can fight me. No really, I usually say I'm kidding when I say fight me, but no one messes with this movie. If you haven't seen it DO IT.  
> *hesitates but screams fuck it before uploading this chapter* Ahahahahahaha y'all must be SOOOOOOO done with me at this point.


	10. Talk To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He stopped typing and deleted the whole mess before chucking his phone to the opposite side of the room with a shout of frustration. It thudded against the wall, sounding just as hollow as Steve felt. Why couldn’t he just say sorry?!  
> There was a knock on the door and Steve let out another groan, hoping that that would convey the message of ‘not in the mood’ that he was trying to send.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of short but it. Is. Fucking. Necessary.   
> Did you know that Steve Palchuk is human? No? Then let's explore that a bit.   
> I APOLOGIZE FOR HOW LATE THIS IS UPDATING! I WOKE UP AT 2:30 A.M FOR AN APPOINTMENT, YOU KNOW WHAT TIME I GOT BACK? 4:30 P.M. I TOOK A NAP AND GOT UP AT 9:30 P.M, STARTED WORKING ON THIS AS SOON AS MY BRAIN WAS AWAKE ENOUGH.

    A month had passed and they were back at square one if not worse. They occasionally sat together in class but didn’t speak unless it was Creepslayer related. And there hadn’t been anything Creepslayer worthy lately. Gunmar was still missing in action, well not missing but in the Troll Market, plotting. Claire hadn’t had…whatever it was that she had been having for three weeks or so. Creep activity in Arcadia had reached an all-time low, not even the sight of goblins in trashcans had occurred. Their patrols had died out two weeks ago and they only went out to train with Blinky and Aargh. The silence of supernatural activity was just a sign that something big was coming soon, so Blinky kept saying.

    But that wasn’t the only silence, Eli and Steve weren’t arguing or anything, they were just…numb. In school, at home, during training. Even NotEnrique had dropped the joke he had made at the beginning of them having a lovers quarrel. Blinky encouraged them to talk, asked them what was wrong and they would just shrug and say nothing. It was driving them insane, desperately wanting to talk with each other but both too stubborn and afraid to do so.

   At first Jim, Claire and Toby thought that Steve was back to the stupid cover thing again but realized that Eli was ignoring Steve just as much as Steve was ignoring him and would see the looks that they would give each other when one wasn’t looking.

    They didn’t know how much more they would be able to be take, summer break was less than a couple of weeks away. What would happen after that? If Gunmar didn’t make a move or if something didn’t happen…would that really be the end of the Creepslayerz? The thought made Eli want to cry and he wasn’t the only one.

    And on top of that Will, Jack and David had only been suspended for fifteen days since the fight hadn’t been on school grounds; it was the best the principal could do even though Steve claimed utter bullshit. He was a jock, he knew all about how teachers would turn a blind eye.

   Even though Steve had said that he wouldn’t let go of how he and Eli had gotten closer, even though he had promised himself that he wouldn’t be a coward and just _tell_ Eli, had had done just that, had broken everything apart…and he hadn’t even needed Will, Jack and David’s help to do it. That part was the salt in the wound.

   

    Steve was currently lying down on his bed after Saturday’s training session in the caverns that hadn’t even lasted an hour, staring at his phone. He had already written a million words, a million conversation starters. And he had deleted every. Single. One.  He couldn’t bring himself to hit send.

    _Hey Eli, how are you?_ Delete.

    _Eli, can I borrow your math notes?_ Delete.

    _Peppers, I’m really sorry about how I acted that night._ Delete.

   _I think a mosquito bit me, can you bring a banana? haha._ Delete.

   _You know I miss you calling me Stevie._ Delete

   _Eli…I really miss you._ He hesitated before hitting delete.

   Steve sighed, scrunching his eyes shut. This whole routine had been going on for so long, too long. He opened his eyes and started typing once more.

 _Hey Eli, I meant that whole movie thing in a romantic way, like a date or whatever. I really like you, not the way that I like sports or Creepslaying even though you have to admit Creepslaying is awesome._ He let out a sad chuckle as he imagined the laugh Eli would give at that part.

   _I mean I really fucking like you. I was always fighting everyone that got close to me but you got through to me and now that I let you in I’m no good without you. I can’t do the things that I used to do without you anymore. And I don’t mind that! Eli, I don’t know what you did to me but seeing your smile, oh god your smile, you always smile no matter what. You smiled after falling down a hole, you smiled while you were getting your ass handed to you by Aargh, the way you smiled when you first met me and it made my stomach do flips_

    He stopped typing and deleted the whole mess before chucking his phone to the opposite side of the room with a shout of frustration. It thudded against the wall, sounding just as hollow as Steve felt. Why couldn’t he just say sorry?!

    There was a knock on the door and Steve let out another groan, hoping that that would convey the message of ‘not in the mood’ that he was trying to send.

    It didn’t.

    Lawrence walked in without a word and sat on the far edge of Steve’s bed since said person was in the top corner, knees drawn up to his chest and refusing to look at him, much less acknowledge his presence.

   “I’m not going to ask if everything’s alright,” Lawrence began, looking at one of the posters Steve’s wall. “Cause I know that it’s not, you’re not focused in class or on the team. I’m not going to baby you and repeatedly ask what’s wrong because I know you’re tired of that. I’m not going to push you into talking with me but Steve, I’m not just here for you mom, if you need to talk, I’m here to listen.”

    Steve didn’t move or nod, just continued looking down. 

     “So did you and Eli have a fight?” Lawrence asked after a while, looking at him.

    He didn’t answer again but couldn’t help as he gave the barest of flinches at the question.

    He nodded, carefully thinking of what to say next. He had seen Steve angry and annoyed, he had seen him happy, but he had never seen him so…helpless. And while Lawrence had never had kids of his own and Steve was his student he would be a damned liar if he said that no parental urges were coming through. “Steve, friends fight.” he used the word friend, Susan had told him about how Steve reacted when she had used the term ‘boy troubles’ and he didn’t have a doubt in his mind that the response was just another result of the hell that Steve’s birth father had put hm through.

    “Not like this, we’ve never fought like this.” Steve said, barely audible.

    “There are different fights; there are friend fights about silly things, more serious things, and things that really test what bond you both have.” Lawrence explained gently.

   “Yeah but after this I don’t think we’ll have a bond anymore!” Steve shouted suddenly, panic in his voice. “I don’t think we’ll have a bond anymore…” Steve repeated softly. That was the answer he had been avoiding, the possible outcome that he had refused to acknowledge. “I don’t…”

   “Hey,” Lawrence soothed. “You will, but if you don’t, which isn’t lucky, but if you don’t it just means that Eli wasn’t that good of a fri-”

    “No! He is a good friend! I’m the one who pushed him away! I’m the one who keeps pushing him away even when I don’t want to! He’s a good friend, an amazing friend! In all honesty I don’t deserve him! He’s not the problem, I’m the problem!” Steve shouted, cutting him off.

    “Steve-”

   “Oh god I’m the problem.” Steve said, voice almost a whimper as tears unexpectedly flooded his eyes. “I’m always the problem.” His voice cracked. He quickly wiped away his tears but more came. He let out a growl and buried his face in his knees, trembling.

    “Steve…” Lawrence repeated. He was out of his area. He laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder, unsure of how to fix this. He had known that Steve had been upset for a while but he had never expected him to _cry_ over Eli.

    “I messed up, Lawrence, I messed up so bad.” Steve choked out. “I keep being the problem in everything and I mess everything up and I can’t-” it broke off into another muffled cry.

    He sighed, wrapping an arm around him and rubbing his back. “It’ll be okay champ…have you tried apologizing to him?”

   “How? I can’t just say ‘sorry’, sorry isn’t enough.”

   “You’d be surprised, but whatever happens at least you’ll know you tried.”

    “But-” Steve’s protest was cut off by his phone ringing. His eyes widened. The ring tone, it was the X-files theme song. Otherwise known as Eli’s ringtone. Steve practically jumped off the bed and scooped the phone up, answering with trembling fingers.

   “E-Eli!? Look I don’t know if you called me on purpose or if you butt-dialed me or something but _please_ don’t hang up! Please!” He begged, clutching the phone with both hands as he held it against his ear.

   “…Steve? Have you been crying?”

   His heart sank. Not Eli. It was Leslie. “W-what? No, I wasn’t.” He denied even as he wiped his eyes and sniffled. “Is Eli alright?! This is his phone did something-!”

    “Calm down Steve, Eli’s fine, well not fine, he hasn’t been fine in a month but he’s physically fine.” Leslie said and Steve could hear the ice in her voice. “He’s out cold; I’m surprised that you’re awake to be honest.”

    He didn’t even know how late it was, no wonder Lawrence had been so concerned. “I was um-I-ah I was just thinking about…Stuff.” Why did he feel like he had been caught red handed.

    “Was some of that ‘stuff’ concerning Elijah?” she asked sternly.

    “I…” he couldn’t say anything more and looked down in a mixture of embarrassment and ashamed.

   Leslie sighed heavily. She wasn’t particularly fond of the boy at the moment, after all she had let her guard down once and that very night her son had spent the night in his room crying Steve’s name.  But she knew that this whole thing wasn’t healthy for either of them. Her son…had a _habit_ of trusting the wrong people, the kind of people to use him and throw him away. It had made him wary against the world but not once shaking that trust that he put in people when he first met them. Elijah always managed to see the good in people and while that was supposed to be a good thing, for someone like Elijah…it could be dangerous. She held herself at least partially responsible for that.

   But Steve, even though it still pained her somewhat to admit it, was different. He wasn’t using Elijah for homework or other things, those things didn’t require acting friendly or staying at their house when ruffians had taken her son’s key (which they had gotten back thankfully). She could tell that Steve actually _cared_ about Elijah, and if she hadn’t been sure about that before, the way he had answered the phone proved it.

    “I need you to talk to Eli.” She said finally.

   “What?” He was certain that he hadn’t heard correctly.

    “He’s been a mess okay? He won’t talk to me and I don’t care what’s going through your thick skull you need to swallow your pride and **talk**. Please.”

   “He hates me.” He said miserably.

   “If he hated you then he wouldn’t bother crying over you.” She pointed out.

   “Wait what?!” Steve shouted suddenly. He had made Eli _cry_?! His mind flashed to when he had seen Eli cry that day and it felt like someone had stabbed him in the heart. “I didn’t mean to! I thought that he was angry! I never meant to hurt him!”

   “Steve breathe.” Leslie said calmly, using what was no doubt her therapist voice. “Panicking and shouting into the phone isn’t going to help.”

   He did as he was told, caught Lawrence’s eye and looked away, now thoroughly embarrassed that he had witnessed his breakdown. “I don’t want to hurt him.” He said softly.

    “I know.” Leslie sighed. “So please, talk with him.”

    “What do I even say?”

    “Something along the lines of ‘sorry’.”

 

 

    “Eli wait!” Steve called when he dropped him off at his house the next day, the smaller boy had leaped off the Vespa before they had even come to a complete stop. Steve had been practicing what he would say all day and during training wouldn’t have been a good time to say what he needed to say.

   Said person froze and slowly turned around, grip on the strap of his backpack tightening. Steve hadn’t called after him, _to_ him in so long that hearing it again hurt. “What is it?” he mumbled, looking at the ground.

   Steve got off the Vespa as well and walked over to him. “I-I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you, I was angry about something and I took it out on you and…” he sighed. “Look Pepperpal, I just really miss you. I miss our talks and how you tell me about your theories and how you call me Stevie and I miss you and I’m sorry.”

    So much for that apology he had planned out. God he had just rambled half of what he had meant to.

   Eli’s lips quirked in a smile at ‘Pepperpal’ before he looked to the side, chewing on his lip. Steve shouting at him, it had hurt, how disgusted Steve had looked had hurt, the way that he was sure that Steve had been about to say ‘I didn’t mean this as a date’ had hurt, being called Pepperjack and ignored for a month (although his own stubbornness was to blame as well and he knew it) had _really_ hurt. But, “I missed you too.” Eli admitted softly. But not speaking to Steve hurt the most; especially with how genuine and sincere he looked now.

    “So you forgive me?” Steve asked hopefully.

   “Nope.”

   Steve gaped; hurt clear as day on his face. “But-”

   “At least not until you prove you’re sorry.” Eli said with a smile. He didn’t want to be angry with Steve, and a month had given him a chance to cool his jets but he wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily. “Now the last movie we watched was kind of spoiled for me with how the rest of the evening had gone.”

   He winced apologetically. “I said I was-”

   Eli shushed him. “So we’re watching another one and it’s going to be the cringest thing in the world but you’re going to watch it with me.”

   “Oh my god you scared me for a minute there.” Steve sighed, pulling him into a hug. Eli rolled his eyes but smiled as he let out his own little sigh of happiness, wrapping his arms around the other and nuzzling his face into his chest, feeling safe and warm. All the tension from the past month just flowed out. “I missed you.” Steve repeated quietly.

   “That’s not getting you out of the movie.” Eli proclaimed, (regretfully) breaking the hug and turning back toward the house. “Well?” he persisted, looking back at Steve who was still standing in the same place. Steve smiled and followed him into the house.

   How bad could the movie be?

   Steve caught Leslie’s eye who just gave him a knowing look before he looked away in embarrassment. Right, it was Sunday, she was home today. Hopefully she hadn’t mentioned yesterday’s conversation to her son, hadn’t mentioned the way Steve had been crying over him. She went upstairs, probably to give them some privacy or something which Steve was grateful for although he wouldn’t be surprised if there was some kind of baby monitor in the living room where Eli was currently rifling through the shelves to find the movie.

 

   The whole movie was on drugs. That’s the only way Steve was able to describe it. And not even that. Had this been the original Sharknado? Eli had dug into the depths of hell, aka DVD cabinet and triumphantly pulled out something that was called Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus…the title should have been a hint.

    The animation was so damn cringy that it was actually kind of funny but Steve couldn’t tell if that intentional or not. How could Eli stand this? Even Steve could see the lack of logic. And the acting! And all those cut scenes from the shark to the octopus to the onlookers was making Steve’s head spin. What even where these special effects?

    So why was he laughing?

    Why was he laughing along with Eli and the sheer stupidity of it all? Eli hadn’t been kidding when he said that it was the cringest thing in the world. But he was having so much fun. Through all the unnecessary explosions and dramatic music he was laughing along with the other. That sinking feeling in his chest was gone, he felt lighter than ever. Steve had been so terrified that that fight would be the end of everything because hey, one could only put up with his bullshit for so long. But apparently not….which just made him that much more afraid of fucking up again. But that was just a nagging voice in the back of his head, for now Steve was focused on enjoying whatever crack fuelled movie this was.

    And then _that_ scene came on.

   Honestly, nearly every single movie be it romance, comedy, action, horror had some sort of unnecessary make out or sex scene…this time it was the latter apparently. MacNeil and Shimada (what name was that anyway?) decided, hey fuck all the lives in danger, let’s get steamy in a **utility closet.**

    Steve cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uh are they seriously at it in there?”

    Eli shrugged, munching on his popcorn. Okay so he _may_ have forgotten about that part. “Seems like it, either that or it is a very odd way of sparring.”

    He let out an awkward laugh, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand; the other was around Eli’s shoulder _again._ “What’s your mom going to think if she comes down here?”

    “She won’t.” Eli reassured, even though he was hoping that the scene would be over soon before life decided to fuck him over by proving him wrong.

    After that the rest of the movie continued in its mess of drama and terrible sci-fi effects. And wasn’t that a squid and not an octopus? Steve would yell and heckle at parts of the movie causing Eli to (playfully) punch him in the arm and (politely) tell him to shut his trap causing Steve to laugh. God Eli was into some dorky movies. Even though they had agreed to one movie Eli took pity on Steve for putting him through that horror movie and put Gremlins, the kickass classic. Now this was a movie Steve could get behind.

   Although for some reason the gremlins kept reminding him of the goblins they often saw in Arcadia. Green, causes trouble, goes in packs, lanky limbs. Ah well, just a coincidence. Why couldn’t they look more like Gizmo? Well if they were that cute then Steve would never want to fight them.

    Sometime through the movie they ended up like they had that Friday evening that they had spent together, Steve sitting on the corner and Eli leaning against him, legs up on the sofa. One way or another Steve had begun running his fingers through Eli’s hair, causing him to sigh pleasantly.

    They had both missed this, each other’s company. They wouldn’t admit it out loud but they didn’t have to. Moments like this they could speak without opening their mouths. And yet Steve did anyway.

    “I was so afraid of losing you.” Steve murmured even though he was currently watching the little monsters wreck the bar. It was his favourite part.

    Eli flushed and leaned further into him. “I was too.” He admitted quietly.

   “You had a reason to be mad, I shouldn’t have acted like that but I do anyway and” he sighed heavily. “god, Eli, I just don’t want to keep hurting you.”

  “It’s not just your fault. We’re both stubborn and we both have our issues, we just need to talk instead of…closing up.”

  “True that.” Steve agreed.  “I have a habit of clamming up, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t do that to you, especially since you’re one of the only people that I let get close to me even if it doesn’t seem like it.” He admitted. Eli looked up at him with a smile, Steve’s hands halting their movements. Oh god this nerd was so cute. “I guess I’m one of those humans that can’t grasp mushy feelings without exploding.” He murmured, rolling his eyes and smiling when Eli let out a giggle.

   “See? Talking and therapy works.” Leslie said, standing next to the couch and making them both jump and blush heavily. When the hell had she come downstairs?!

    “Mom!” “Leslie.” Eli and Steve groaned simultaneously, equally mortified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usually the chapters are from Eli's point of view so I decided to do one from Steve's!   
> OKAY! One thing that I have NOT been able to get out of my head, we all loved the Creepslayerz episode right? (Obviously why else are y'all reading this?) But this one thing has always been in the back of my head since then. Steve, he had to take a break in the middle of the mission, go to the bathroom, and just...cried. Like he went to the bathroom and was so overwhelmed to the point that he cried (that's the moment where a lot of people theorized about his abusive father). So yes, Steve is human and double yes, he can get overwhelmed.   
> I have NOT seen Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus (officially at least), there's this person on Tumblr who has this bog, 'Ask A Creepslayer', her name is Ari and she is fucking kickass and recommended that I use the movie, that being said! The info I got from this is what I read from various websites and what I saw from a few short YouTube videos, a website SAID that the characters said had sex in a utility closet but i don't know if that was SHOWN per say. (It's an older movie and I think it was R if I remember correctly?) If it wasn't shown, pardon my mistake and pretend it was just for the sake of awkwardness XD   
> Next chapter is much better (in my opinion) and is longer than this one. Now whether 'better' to me means worse for you guys or better for you guys...we shall see *evil laugh*   
> MORE FATHER FIGURE LAWRENCE! *squeals* (Lawrence just pair the bastards up for P.E or something!)   
> Some of you guys might say that they got back to easily but come on, it was a MONTH and they were both at their limit. AND they actually apologized! Ha! So fight me! (Please do not cause actual harm to the author, although I know some of you guys are dying to do so if I don't get them together soon).   
> Leslie I swear to Zeref...Stop. Interrupting. For. Fuck's. Sake. For this chapter I recommend the song 'Talk to me'. I heard it in a Klance AMV and I love it.   
> Long as fuck end notes, stfu me. See? The sleep deprivation is showing, right here. Running on a nap and three (four?) cups of coffee. I have not had tea. I think my brain has ascended to an astral plane? Just...yeah. Blerf.


	11. No More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had faced so many dangers since becoming a Creepslayer. He had seen things that would make people’s skin crawl. Things that would prevent someone from going to sleep without checking underneath their bed fifty times. Some days Steve didn’t know whether he should be totally in awe at all that he had seen or if he should check himself into a mental asylum. At the moment he was leaning toward the latter. After all, with all he had done, with everything he had faced, this should be no problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introducing a new character!!! Why?! Because fuck you that's why! (Just kidding I love you guys okay?) My brain came up with a character and I couldn't get read of them...I may have done a drawing of them...Yeah. My baby.   
> I swear this chapter wasn't written entirely on crack  
> SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE I LOST POWER FOR ABOUT 5 HOURS!

   Steve hated Lawrence with a burning rage hotter than the surface of Venus.

    Coach _had_  to mention it, _had_ to bring it to Steve’s attention, wave it right in front of his face where he sure as hell didn’t want it. Although Steve had to admit it was his own fault as well for not realizing it in the first place. But how could he have!? He had had more important things on his mind! Creepslaying, the Trolls, the impending approach of Gunmar, patching things up with Eli because he was absolutely terrified of fucking up again. But he should have seen the signs; they had been right in front of his face.

He had faced so many dangers since becoming a Creepslayer. He had seen things that would make people’s skin _crawl._ Things that would prevent someone from going to sleep without checking underneath their bed fifty times. Some days Steve didn’t know whether he should be totally in awe at all that he had seen or if he should check himself into a mental asylum. At the moment he was leaning toward the latter. After all, with all he had done, with everything he had faced, _this_ should be no problem.

    He grimaced at the brightly printed paper next to the entrance of the school. _Last dance of the school year!_ The bright colours taunted him.

   Lawrence had mentioned it innocently, _innocently,_ Saturday night after he had come home from Eli’s house with the biggest smile on his face, finally seeming relaxed for the first time in a month. And then Coach _had_ to fuck it up by mentioning the goddamn upcoming dance, right after he had come home too. At least give him a chance to relax for five minutes! Okay so maybe all that Lawrence had mentioned was that he was going to be chaperoning for the dance but still!

   Steve glared at the poster as if it were his worst enemy, which at the moment it was. It was already Thursday and the fucking dance was tomorrow.

    He wanted nothing more than to ask Eli to that stupid dance, wanted nothing more than to just spend the night with him like normal couples-er students-uh-creepslaying teammates could. But he held back. Why? Because even though he had promised himself that it wouldn’t be a problem, after he had promised _Eli,_ he was still worried about the freaking cover! He hated himself for admitting it but that was the issue.

    That was always the issue. Steve grit his teeth, why did he have to be such a coward?! Just ask him! But the thought of being out there…with Eli…it terrified him. All the looks they would get, the whispers that would roam the halls. Even if Eli wasn’t a ‘nerd’, even if Eli was a girl, even if Eli was part of the ‘in’ crowd…he would still be scared out of his mind to ask him. God, why did Steve have to be one of the ‘can’t handle mushy feelings’ type of human!?

    This was why Steve hadn’t wanted to do the whole training thing at first, he was getting too close to Eli and when he got close people got hurt, so proven by how he had made Eli cry; he was never forgiving himself for that one. This was why Steve was better just being the bully, no emotions in that except power. This was-

    “Hey Stevie!” Eli shouted, running up to him. Jim, Toby, and Claire followed behind him walking. Gym class had just finished and Steve had been waiting for Eli to finish changing his clothes. And now here Eli was beaming from ear to ear and acting like a puppy.

    This was why Steve cared so much about him, damn it.

   “Hey Pepperpal.” Steve greeted, ruffling Eli’s hair. They were some of the only students left on the school grounds.

   “Pepperpal?” Jim snorted, quirking an eyebrow and looking at the affectionate scene between the two. Man, they had lots of fights but they always made up so cleanly.

    “Shut up geek, you guys call Toby T.P!” Steve barked even as his face tinted a bit. He was way too used to it just being him and Eli so his filter was out of date.

   “Yeah but Pepperpal just sounds…cute.” Said Claire, giggling behind her hand.

   Eli flushed as well. “It’s not cute! It’s…” he had no argument. He found it ridiculously adorkable himself.

    “It just sounds like you mashed your names together.” Toby pointed out. Eli and Steve let out a confused noise causing Toby to sigh and elaborate. “ _Pepper_ jack,” he held up on hand. “ _Pal_ chuk,” he held up the other before giving himself a fist bump. “Pepperpal.”

    Steve turned an even deeper shade of red. He hadn’t even realized that. “Whatever! Aren’t you guys supposed to be going to Strickler and Nomura?!”

   “Oh Steve, we always have time to get on your nerves.” Jim said with a smile. Having Steve know that he was a Trollhunter with kickass armour and sharp weapons had its perks.

   “All you’re going to get on is your face on my fist.” Quipped Steve even if he didn’t mean a word of it.

   “Stevie, we’re going to be late!” Eli whined, tugging on the other boy’s arm.

    Steve rolled his eyes but relented, allowing Eli to pull him along. “You’re lucky that we’re running late!” he called behind him.

    “Oh my god they’re almost as bad as you and Claire.” Toby mumbled watching the Creepslayerz leave, Steve waiting for Eli to put his helmet on and then Eli nodding with the brightest smile on his face before holding onto him tighter than what was strictly necessary for riding a Vespa.

   “Please,” Scoffed Claire, a smile on her face. “They’re a million times worse.”

 

   

    “I hate this whole thing.” Steve muttered.

    They were in the tunnels of the caverns, _again,_ exploring the tunnels, _again,_ with risk at getting lost, **again.** One would think that with how many times they’d been through this same scene they would have the place memorized by now. Except that’s exactly what they were doing right now. Blinky had been explaining how in case of a surprise attack (what other kind of attack was there going to be? Steve doubted that Gunmar was going to ring in like: Oh hey mind if I kill you guys now? No. Is Tuesday better for you guys? Great, thanks.) it was important to know the layout of the place, at least if they were attacked in the caves they would have the home advantage.

   “Like it or not we have to do it Steve.” Eli said. They had taken a short break so he could jot down more little notes. Steve was pretty sure that he was making a map or something of that sort. Or cataloguing the different types of moss. Both more than likely.

    But it wasn’t this whole thing that Steve had been complaining about, his mind had wondered back to the stupid dance again. But he couldn’t exactly mention it at the moment ‘Where in the caves do you think we are? By the way want to go to some lame ass dance with me?’

Blinky had a lot of solid points as to why this exercise was a good idea and both of them agreed with him. And after spending so much time on physical training they were happy for a break but seriously. The tunnels?! Again?! At the very least could Blinky warn NotEnrique when they were down there so the little demon wouldn’t scare the shit out of them? Speaking of which…

   “Why the hell do you always climb on me you fucking parrot?” Steve asked, not angry just confused at the Changeling that couldn’t keep off his shoulders.

    “I like high places and you’re taller than the pipsqueak over here, plus he keeps muttering under his breath and only psychopaths do that.” NotEnrique answered simply.

    “Who are you calling a pipsqueak, pipsqueak?” Eli accused, looking up from his notes (and halting his muttering) long enough to answer. “Okay so if we’re here and that tunnel connects that way then…” he trailed off into muttering again.

    Steve snorted. “Claire warned me that you liked climbing.” One of the things that Steve had talked about with the Trollhunters.

    “Well what else was I supposed to do to pass the time? Sis hardly does anything interesting that doesn’t involve life or death circumstances.” Said NotEnrique.

    “It’s sweet that you call her sis.” Eli commented, he was still paying attention to the conversation after all.

   “It’s short for sissy cause that’s what she is, just a sissy like all you humans are.” NotEnrique lied.

    Eli wasn’t convinced. “It’s fine N-E, I have an older sister too so I know how it is, but I know that you have a reputation to keep of being saltier then the Dead Sea.” He laughed.

   “Wait you have an older sister?” Steve asked, doing a double take. This was the first time he had ever heard of this.

   “Um yeah? I never mentioned her?” Eli could have sworn that he had, he absolutely adored her after all.

   “Um no you didn’t. What’s she like and how come I’ve never met her?” Steve asked, sitting next to where Eli had sat down to write.

   “Ah she’s seven years older than me and had already moved out when you met me. Why do you think my mom had a minivan of all cars? She goes to college out of Arcadia, thank god, but we Skype pretty regularly.”

   Steve blinked a few times, a bit insulted that he hadn’t known about this before. “Huh…what’s she like? Name and whatnot, what’s she study? You have me curious now and I’m hurt that I haven’t been introduced yet.”

    “You’ll be introduced to your sister in law at the wedding.” NotEnrique snarked from his place on Steve’s shoulder.

   “I will fling your hairy ass to the other side of the cave NotEnrique and you are in perfectly within grabbing distance.” Steve retorted.

   “Well she’s…she’s in college like I said, she studies Ancient Cultures, her name is Gwyneth, she’s an _amazing_ cook and an even better baker, just thinking about her brownies…” Eli sighed blissfully. “She can do makeup in a way that would put even the most skilled to shame, she’s a diehard Star Gate fan and adores Disney. We usually do Disney sing offs when she visits.”

    “I can imagine how much you guys must geek out. I definitely need to meet her with the look you gave about her brownies.”

    “Ugh she’s been begging me to talk with you but I’m pretty sure it’s just to embarrass me.” Eli groaned.

    “I think Natalie and Arty have that covered.” Steve chuckled.

   “Come on! I’m not getting any younger here and we have to cover a certain amount of ground for today if you want to have this whole place mapped before the year is over.” NotEnrique cut in. How did they keep forgetting that the little runt was on Steve’s shoulder?

   “Fine.” Steve muttered, getting up and helping Eli to his feet. “So which way are we going now?”

   “Straight. (Ha!)” NotEnrique replied. They followed his directions and went that way.

   “Well I was planning on Skyping her today anyway. Do you want to join after we get out of here?” Eli asked.

    “I’d like that.” Said Steve, smiling.

 

  They were able to map out a small percent of the caverns, less than twenty (According to Eli’s calculations) but it was a start. There were just so many openings, one tunnel lead to two more, a never ending labyrinth. Steve was seriously about to make another David Bowie joke to Blinky and probably would have if only the Troll would have understood the reference. It would be so easy to get lost in this huge place, a perfect defence in case there was ever an attack there. So many rooms and openings, so many tunnels and twists, it was baffling absolutely mind boggling. One the outside the mountains just looked like painfully average but on the inside…it was amazing. Forget not judging a book by its cover, try not judging a mountain by its surface.

    They should have thought of doing this a while ago, even when or if they ever finished cataloguing the whole place it would take forever to actual memorize it.

   But it was fun, in between the quips between them and NotEnrique, the talks and laughs, Eli cataloguing and mumbling under his breath. It was just normal evening with the Creepslayerz. Because to them normal was the unexpected.

   However the whole exploration of the caves had Steve worrying about what would have happened if Eli hadn’t been found quite so easily after he had run off on that first Monday. The place was much more elaborate than either of them would have guessed. And although Steve never mentioned it out loud, it had crossed his mind once or twice that there could be some corpses down there. Well that was a comforting thought.

    “Are you sure your mom is okay with me being here?” Steve asked once more, parking the Vespa in front of Eli’s house, even thought they had made up he hadn’t been _in_ the house since they had that movie night. He wasn’t exactly sure if Leslie liked him or not. What kind of mom liked seeing someone that had made their child cry? At the same time she _had_ been the one to push Steve to talk to him again. So maybe she didn’t one hundred percent hate him?

   “Of course she is.” Eli reassured even though he had mixed feelings himself. His mother could be so hard to read at times. Well she wasn’t home yet so it shouldn’t be a problem.

    “Eli is that you?!” Leslie called from the kitchen. He just _had_ to test his luck didn’t he?

   “Mom? I thought that you were still at the office.” Eli asked, going to where her voice was coming from, Steve followed.

   “I just got back, there weren’t many clients today.” Her office hours were so long because she usually worked with patients that had insomnia; she had been working more to make up for the car. “The real question is why you were out at this time at night.” She had been pulling some leftovers out of the fridge and turned to see the two of them. She rolled her eyes. “Never mind, I just got my answer.”

    The Creepslayerz felt like a couple of children with their hands caught in the cookie jar.

   “Ah I’m sorry Ms. Pepperjack, I didn’t mean to keep him out so late we sort of lose track of time.” Steve apologized, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

  “I trust that you’ll be more responsible next time.” She said, giving Steve a pointed look. “So what were you both doing out so late?” Her definition of late was that it was around nine.

   Steve stiffened momentarily. “Uh he was tutoring me on something.” He lied.

    “This close to summer? Are teachers still giving work?” she questioned, a puzzled look on her face.

    “It wasn’t about a class per say, the last math test we had; he didn’t understand this one question and I think the teacher might have written it wrong because I didn’t really understand it either.” Eli cut in, saving both of their asses.

    “And after that we were talking about other things and lost track of time.” Steve added.

   She looked at them both for a tense moment before nodding and sticking the leftovers in the microwave. “At least you’re keeping up on your studies.”

   They both breathed out a sigh of relief. “So I was going to Skype Gwen, Steve wanted to talk with her too, is that alright?”

   “Ah…yeah sure.” She answered after a moment’s hesitation. It wasn’t that big of a pause but it spoke volumes.

   Nonetheless Eli went up to his room with Steve in tow, shut the door behind them and unlocked the monitor on his desk. Steve was pretty sure that he had caught the password being ‘The Truth Is Out There’ but didn’t mention it.

    Steve sat on the bed while he waited, twiddling his thumbs and not really knowing what else to do. What if she ended up hating him? Eli seemed to think pretty highly of her. So how should he make a good first impression?

   “Let me just check if she’s online and she is! Great! Hold on let me message her to see if she’s free, stay over there.” Eli said, practically bouncing in his seat. He just hoped that Steve didn’t end up hating her, or vice versa, that would be a nightmare.

    ‘ _Are you able to talk or have the teachers succeeded in drowning you in homework?’_ he messaged with all of the sibling love in the world.

    ‘ _Charming as always Eli, and yes baby brother I’m still alive.’_ She replied a few seconds later

    _‘Stop using your age to prove your superiority. -_-  Can we video call? I have a surprise._ ’

   ‘ _Eli if you put hold another horror pic in front of the camera again I swear the next batch of brownies you get will be poisoned.’_

 _‘One: that was hilarious. Two: I promise that I won’t.’_ Right after he sent that he got an invitation to video call. His face lit up and he eagerly hit the accept button. It took a few moments to load but soon her face was displayed on the screen.

   “Hello brother mine.” She laughed. “Nice to finally talk to you, it’s not like you never call me anymore but okay, I get it. I’m finally deemed worthy of your presence.” She sniffed dramatically.

    Eli’s laugh almost covered Steve’s. Almost.

   “Eli L. Pepperjack do you have someone in your _room_?” she gasped, a shit eating grin plastered on her face. Seriously, she should take theatre rather than studying ancient cultures in Eli’s opinion.

   “I do have friends you know.” Eli rolled his eyes. “But yes there is, that’s what the surprise is. Be nice.”

   “Aw Eli, when aren’t I?” she cooed before bursting into laughter. Steve liked her already.

   Eli rolled his eyes once more but motioned Steve over nonetheless. Steve grabbed the spare chair and put it next to the others’, now both of their faces being viewed on her end of the call.  “Gwyneth, this is Steve, Steve, Gwyneth.”

    “No need to be so formal Eli, please call me Gwen. I’ve heard a _lot_ about you Steve.”

    “Nice to meet you Gwen and I don’t know if I should be worried about how much you’ve heard about me or not.” Steve chuckled awkwardly.

   “Let’s put it this way, I’ve contemplated chopping your balls off a few times.” She said breezily.

    “Gwen!” Eli screeched.

    Steve paled a shade or two and cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uh your sister has personality?”

   Gwen laughed. “I’m just messing with you Steve, mostly; Eli talked me out of it every time though so I would be thanking him if I were you.”

   “Gwen for fu-for Pete’s sake, _please_.” Eli groaned, burying his face in his hands and Steve had to chuckle at how adorable that was.

   “Fine, I’ll play nice and I’ll even do you a favour by not telling mom that you almost cursed.” Gwen relented. “It’s nice to meet you as well Steve.” She had pretty green eyes like Eli, a splash of freckles adorning her face like Natalie and dark midnight hair in a rushed bun although it looked like she had dyed her hair blonde sometime ago and was growing it out. It was blatant that the she and Eli were related.

   There was an awkward silence and Steve used that to send Eli a ‘help I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing’ look.

     “So Eli,” Began Gwyneth, helpfully filling in the silence. “Have you and Steve added anymore to that story?”

    “Oh yeah! Where did we leave off last time?” Eli asked, ignoring the puzzled look Steve had.

   “Uh I think it was when the two characters had met the Changeling in the forbidden caves. But come on Eli! When does the story change from the training, not that that’s not good, back to the villain?! I’m dying to see what happens when Adam and James face off against him!”

   “Oh right! Okay so after that-”

    Steve learned that what Eli’s sister thought were stories were little snippets of what had been going on in Arcadia till now. She thought that they were stories, the Creepslayerz knew otherwise. He was able to figure out that Eli was Adam and he was James. Eli also spoke about Jim, Claire and Toby (under aliases) in his story too but not too often since neither of them really knew what they were doing. Eli had twisted the events that had been transpiring into some sort of fantasy adventure that was actually…pretty impressive. If he had been anyone listening what Eli was saying he would have demanded that he write a book right now.

   What’s more is that Eli had that melodious tone that he would have when he was explaining things and it was just so damn soothing that Steve just wanted to close his eyes and listen to him _talk._

    He contributed to the story every so often of course, following Eli’s lead and it was…nice. It was a way where they could talk about their adventures with someone else without having them worry and holy hell Steve never realized how much he had wanted to talk about this stuff. Gwen said that he had a deep connection with the characters when he got really into it and he almost ended up saying ‘You have no idea’.

    The conversation shifted from there what interests they had in common and Steve ended up learning a lot about Gwen. She was of course a major Sci-Fi fan like her brother but she also adored detective shows. She had a good sense of humour (meaning she laughed at his jokes [Example: Why shouldn’t you trust atoms? Because they make up everything]). And she was fiercely protective of Eli even though she showed it in a different way than their mother but Steve was pretty sure that she would give Eli her kidney if he needed it. One other thing that he noted was that she had an interesting tone of voice, it wasn’t as high pitched as his mother but had a certain timber too it that he couldn’t put his finger on. Steve mentioned how he liked her voice to her and was glad that he did when her face broke into a huge smile, so did Eli’s.

    He wasn’t sure how long they had been talking but he figured that it had been a while when Eli’s mom came into the room announcing. “Elijah it’s time to say goodnight, you have school tomorrow.”

   “Aw come on.” Eli pleaded and sighed heavily when Leslie just gave him the mom look. “I have to go.” He pouted to his sister even though she had heard.

    “Hi mom!” Gwen called as if she had to raise her voice for her mother to hear her. “Guess who I finally got introduced to?!”

    “Not a clue.” Leslie deadpanned, looking at Steve who gave a wave in response. “Oh that reminds me! Elijah did you remember to ask Steve?”

    “Ask me what?” Steve asked curiously, looking over to Eli who was now pink in the face.

    “N-nothing, it’s nothing important.” Eli waved off.

    “Oh, but you seemed so excited about it.” Leslie pressed.

    “Come on Eli, you can tell me.” He reassured.

    He hesitated. “We-well uh she, s-she wanted to know if you were going to escort me to the dance. I mean just dropping me off there and whatnot! Not that we’d be going together-I mean we would be but just arriving together and hanging out! If you want to that is, you can just dump me there or whatever! It’s just that she doesn’t know what time she’ll be getting out of the office and she would feel better if I had a ride so obviously she thought of you!” Eli explained in a rush.

   Steve blinked a few times, face turning dark as he looked at Eli’s own red face. Well anybody would be embarrassed by their mom thinking that they needed a ride right? Gwen’s cackling came through the screen causing the two to flush further. “Goodbye Gwen!” Eli shouted, was immediately reprimanded by their mother, apologized and hung up.

    “Ah Leslie, can we talk you know, privately?” Steve asked, looking over at her. She was still in the doorway.

    “Don’t take forever, it’s a school night.” She reminded before leaving. They could hear her footsteps down the stairs.

    “So…the dance.” He began. Eli started to stutter apologies but he shushed him, Steve took a deep breath “It’s a good idea.”

   “What?” Eli practically squeaked, still rigid in his seat.

   “It’s a good idea, for me to take you I mean. I was trying to ask you earlier but I didn’t want to seem weird, you never know if Gunmar might crash the party or something and The Trollhunters are going to need the Creepslayerz there just in case.” Explained Steve.

    “Oh.” Eli replied softly, looking…oddly disappointed.

    Shit that hadn’t come out right. “That is if anyone didn’t already ask you of course!” Steve said quickly even though the very idea made his chest pinch. “I got an offer or two but…I-I thought that it would be better to go with my best friend.”

   “W-Wait I’m…? You consider me you-I thought Jim was-I’m your best friend?” he asked, eyes bright and a hopeful smile on his face.

    “Of course you are you nerd!” Steve laughed even though he so desperately wanted to add the fact that Eli was so much more than that to him. He ruffled the others hair causing Eli to giggle and bat his hand away. “So are you going to let me be your d-ride?”

   “I’d love for you to escort me to the dance!” Eli laughed. But there was that nagging voice in the back of his head. You know Steve is going to ditch you as soon as you walk through the doors. You know Steve isn’t going to want to spend even a second with you. He’s just doing this to be nice. You’re going to fuck this up just like how you mess everything up. He batted those thoughts away. Couldn’t his mind just leave him be?

   “Awesome.” Steve sighed, happy to have gotten that over with. “Okay Peppers, so I think that your mom is just about ready to physically kick me out so I have to go.”

    “She’s not going to kick you out.” Said Eli, rolling his eyes. “I’ll walk you down.”

    They exchanged a hug at the front door. It had become their routinely way of saying goodbye since that Sunday where Eli had hugged Steve unexpectedly. Steve, of course, had frozen not knowing what to do but went along with it. And one way or another it had turned into a habit. It was just a step up from how Steve was always having an arm around Eli’s shoulders. Right?

    Steve got back to his house in high spirits, filled with nervous energy. Every time they had some kind of nice moment Steve would end up doing something that would mess the whole thing up. Steve didn’t think that he could take another **month** of Eli ignoring him. Not again. He shook his head. No. Tomorrow _had_ to go perfectly. Oh shit.

    **Tomorrow.**

    The goddamn dance was tomorrow night. Shit! What the hell was he supposed to do at a dance? What kind of clothes was he supposed to wear?! Well the poster had said casual formal…what in the ever living fuck was semi-formal?! Pick one goddamnit! Either semi or formal, it’s not that complicated!

    “Mooom!” he called upon walking through the front door. It slammed behind him. “What does semi-formal even mean!?”

    “Oh so you’re going to the dance after all?” Lawrence asked. He was in the living room with Susan. Did this man ever go home?

  Steve froze like a deer caught in headlights. “Ah…” No more cover. He relaxed and spoke with a perfect calmness to his tone as if he wasn’t worried at all. “Yeah, I am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What kid of person with no spouse and one kid would have a mini van? No one, conclusion? Eli has a sibling. Fuck you, that's my theory (Note to self:stop insulting the readers) So yeah, Eli has a sister named Gwen who is a little imp, fight me. OH AND I WROTE THE NAME OF ARI'S BLOG WRONG LAST TIME! IT'S @creepslayerz-ask-blog   
> This is coming to an end soon, I believe that there are two chapters left? Maybe I'll make a part two of this thing, I don't know XD   
> How will the dance go...huehuehue >:) I WANT to put a warning for the chapter after this but I feel like it'll spoil :/   
> A N Y W A Y! Thanks for reading another shitty chapter you kickass people you.


	12. I Can't Lose You Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After that class ended quickly and they gathered their things to go to gym. Steve paused as he waited for Eli to finish packing his things before getting a horrible idea that he absolutely loved. “Come on buttsnack, we’re going to be late for gym.” He said casually, walking past him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. LIKE. DESCRIBING. CLOTHES. So fight me. I drew most of these and there was this pic of a lady that looked like Claire in this kind of dress but black so fight me just...I love drawing clothes and I can't do that with writing, best I can do is paint an image in your mind.  
> I MAKE A L O T OF SMART ASS COMMENTS WITHIN THE STORY BECAUSE FUCK IT THIS IS THE SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER (TECHNICALLY LAST CHAPTER, I'LL EXPLAIN IN THE END NOTES) 
> 
> FUCKING WARNING: THERE IS MENTIONS OF A CERTAIN PHOBIA/SLURS AIMED TO A CERTAIN GROUP OF THE LGBTA+ COMMUNITY. I DON'T LIKE IT BUT PEOPLE ARE DOUCHES! (not you guys, gals and other pals of course (Thomas Sanders reference much? XD))  
> (FUN FUCKING FACT, THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN UPDATED OVER AN HOUR AND A HALF AGO IF MY GIRL WOULDN'T KEEP DISTRACTING ME, BLAME HER)

   Why had he let himself agree to this mess? Steve **still** had no idea what the fuck ‘semi-formal’ meant but he (with the help of Lawrence and his mother) had figured something out the night before after he had asked what it was.

    Now during the longest day of school ever, he was stuck thinking that it was the dorkiest outfit in the world. It was the last day of school so none of the teachers had really given ‘class’ per say so he had passed the time by talking with Eli or playing on his phone. Or pretending to play on his phone because he just felt awkward talking to Eli knowing that that night he was taking him to the dance.

    Well not taking taking, escorting, giving him a ride.

    But he _wanted_ to be taking him. Steve _wanted_ for them to show up together, hang out together, leave together without it just being for the sake of a ride. He just…he longed for them to have what Jim and Claire had. Claire…it had been so easy for her to switch from hanging out with the popular girls to hanging out with Jim and Toby. _While_ maintaining a relationship with her old friends he might add.

    Then shouldn’t it be easy for him to do the same? Especially considering that he didn’t even consider those jocks real friends, not just Will, David and Jack (who he had to struggle to not throw through a wall whenever they got within even ten feet of Eli while walking through the hallways) but all of his teammates in general. They were nice sure! But he didn’t just…click with them. Take away sports and that would take away the only thing binding them together. He felt closer to Jim, Toby, Claire, hell he felt closer to NotEnrique then he did to those people.

    So why was he still having doubts about taking Eli to damn dance? It wasn’t just about the cover he had made up for the Creepslayerz…it was his own cover. It was the cover that he had made for himself since he was young, not letting anyone in but not realizing that it was suffocating him. He wasn’t afraid of being seen with Eli, he would love that, would kill for that. But someone looking at him the way his father would, with that sneer, lips curled in disgust barking at him to stop being such a fa-…that’s what scared him. Eli looking at him that way…that terrified him in ways that words didn’t even begin to describe.

    Steve sighed, leaning back in his chair. When was this damn class going to be over already? After this class was Gym then he could go home and have his crisis in peace. That thought reminded him of Eli’s ‘science crisis’ and he snickered at the thought.

    “What’s so funny?” Eli asked, looking over at him. He had been switching between working on the Sudoku sheet the teacher had passed out and writing theories on a separate sheet of paper since class had started.

“Ah just thought of something funny.” Steve said, waving it off. Technically he hadn’t lied.

   “What was it?”

   “Nothing important.” He replied dismissively.

   “Come on tell me.” Eli insisted, actually looking up from the puzzle.

   Steve looked him in the eyes, debating whether he should or not. Oh what the hell, he had already asked the damn dork to the dance (technically…alright Eli had asked him…), it was the last day of school and they were excused from training later. He shrugged and pretended to suddenly be interested in his phone. “Just your little science crisis.”

    Eli stifled a yelp of surprise, face red. “Would you just let that joke die?” he hissed, leaning forward in his seat to the other.

    God that blush was adorable. “Never. You actually cursed and lost control mister cool and while you stunned me into silence that was hilarious.” He replied, leaning forward as well.

    “To you.” Eli muttered, moving back to sit properly. Steve gave a pout that he didn’t see and did so as well. “That had been humiliating!”

   “Hm” Steve hummed in agreement. He was having more fun with this than he’s like to admit. “Plus I’m sure that Blinky had no idea what you said meant so he might have asked Jim or the others to explain.”

    Eli flushed deeper. So _that’s_ why Jim and the others had started teasing about Steve and him. (Not really, these two were so obvious that it was impossible not to.) “T-that I didn’t-fuck.” He swore under his breath. “At least I don’t crash cars into poles.” He muttered.

   “One time Pepperpal, that happened one time!” Steve laughed. God it felt so good to just let go and be himself around Eli.

   “So did that other thing!” Eli laughed as well, play shoving him. “Now, you drop that thing and I’ll drop the whole car-pole thing.”

   “Where’s the fun in that?” he asked. Eli quirked an eyebrow, Steve sighed. “Fine.” He relented.

    “You’re obviously bored,” Eli pointed out even though that wasn’t necessary. “anything you want to talk about?”

   ‘You, this whole dance thing, how I actually feel about you which is something that I have no idea how to voice.’ Steve thought. “Nah not really.” He said out loud instead with a shrug.

    “Hm,” Eli hummed, trying to think of something to talk about. They had already spent a bunch of time talking about his sister, the caves, things like that. He might as well talk about the subject that he and Steve had pretty much avoided thus far. “Ah…what do you think the poster even meant by semi-formal?”

   “I know right!?” Steve automatically exclaimed, glad that someone else had enough sense to question that as well. “It’s like choose formal or don’t choose formal but don’t make things up!”

   Eli chuckled at Steve’s outburst. “Yeah, I think they just did that to make people question life itself.”

   “What, like your ‘Would you rather’ questions do?” questioned Steve with a smirk.

    “Steve Palchuk don’t start with me.” Eli deadpanned. Steve laughed and he couldn’t help but join in.

    So they were actually able to talk about the whole dance thing in the end. Sure Steve had texted him earlier that day about when he was going to pick him up but the fact that they were actually talking about it like any normal people would in the middle of class…it made Eli’s heart fucking sing. And Steve could tell that it did, he was happy as hell to be able to talk about it too. What time he would be picking him up, when they planned to leave, what things they thought that there would be, what songs they hoped would play, things like that.

    After that class ended quickly and they gathered their things to go to gym. Steve paused as he waited for Eli to finish packing his things before getting a horrible idea that he absolutely loved. “Come on buttsnack, we’re going to be late for gym.” He said casually, walking past him.

   Eli practically choked on air, swore under his breath and hurried to catch up to the other, hollering for him to wait up and pretending that his face wasn’t on fire. Damn it, Steve. Surely the other hadn’t forgotten about _that_ considering that he had mentioned his whole science crisis not too long ago. But Steve was just teasing! Just…teasing…

 

    The dance didn’t start till six. Steve had already had dinner early even though he had barely tasted even a bite of it. He was a nervous wreck. But not all of that nervousness was negative, some of it was hopeful…some of it. Unfortunately his mother and Lawrence had noticed and had already asked him if he was sure if he wanted to go. Stop asking damn it or he’d want to change his mind! It wasn’t a big deal, this wasn’t a big deal, it’s just a dance. He kept reminding himself of that lie as he took a shower and got dressed.

   God he hated these clothes.

   He looked like such a dork (in his opinion at least). The reality was that Steve actually looked pretty handsome. He had on a deep blue button up with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows (untucked because hey, it said SEMI formal), sleeveless black blazer with no buttons, black slacks and sneakers cause hey the casual part had to come in somewhere. Steve sighed and looked in the mirror, turning this way and that. This wasn’t too bad right? Did he have time to change? Strike that, he would tear up half his closet if he did (pull yourself out of there while you’re at it).

   Steve sighed and ran a hand through his hair (nervous tick) and let out a curse before trying to fix it back to how it had been. “God, why am I such a spazz?” he half sighed, half growled. “Calm down Palchuk…calm…down.” He sighed again. “Okay you got this.” He made finger guns at the mirror before snorting.

    “Am I interrupting something?” Lawrence asked, half in his room.

    “Lawrence!” Steve exclaimed, face dusted red. “Geez learn to knock! Sorry for yelling.” He apologized right after.

   “It’s alright sport, you’re right I should have knocked. I just wanted to let you know that it’s five thirty and I should get going. You’re heading to Pepperjack’s in fifteen right?”

   “Yeah, thanks…ah and thanks for helping out and…stuff.” God he sucked at saying thank you.

   But Coach smiled either way, he knew what Steve was trying to say. “No problemo kiddo, see you there.” One of the things that he had insisted when he had first started dating Susan was that Steve should have at least _some_ formalish clothes and not just sports things. One suit, two dressup pants, one button up shirt, tie, blazer, vest and complaining Steve later he did.

    Hey, turns out that whole thing had paid off in the end. But Lawrence wasn’t going to point that out to Steve who had protested with ‘I’m never going to need any of these things anyway!’ Anyway, the reality of it was that Steve was horrible with accepting gifts.

   “Are you going to be you know okay? You’re not going to spend the whole time talking to the mirror right?” Lawrence joked even though his eyes were serious at that first part.  

   “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thanks Lawrence.” Replied Steve, giving him a nervous smile, but it was much more confident than before.

   He nodded and mouthed ‘okay’ before leaving the room, silently closing the door behind him (Oh my god a parent who closes the door after themselves! Call Eli, a mythical creature has been sighted!)

   Steve looked himself over one more time in the mirror before flopping onto his bed, passing the time by watching funny videos to calm his nerves. It worked somewhat. Hell he always found things funnier when he’s trying to distract himself. He left sixteen minutes later (purposely waiting the extra minute) and left his room which proved to be an automatic mistake.

    His mother spent the next few minutes bombarding him with taking photos. Just take one for Pete’s sake! But he enjoyed it. Susan was big on scrapbooking and Steve would be a liar if he said that he didn’t love her works. He was constantly telling her how if she wasn’t a librarian then she should go into photography. She gave him a hug and a wish that he would have a good time and then he was (finally) on his way. Okay so he had left a bit later than he had planned too, no biggie…shit Eli was going to think that this didn’t mean anything to him.

     Luckily Eli’s house was pretty close by when one was traveling by Vespa so it didn’t take long to get there. Eli was standing on the porch, fidgeting in place and looking at the ground but his head snapped up when he heard Steve pull up. His face broke into a grin and he gave the other a wave. Steve smiled as well and hoped off, unclipping his helmet before going over to the porch as well. He couldn’t help it.

    Eli just looked…damn. He had already killed Steve with what he had worn to the movies but this was just…god, he couldn’t decide if it was cute or hot. Eli had on a long sleeve button up emerald shirt, black slacks, black vest, and a stripped green, black and white tie (although he had shoes on that looked suspiciously like his heelies). Steve suddenly felt undressed while Eli felt much too overdressed. Why had Eli let his mother (and Gwen from over the screen) pick this outfit out for him?! She had taken a zillion photos before leaving for work.

    “You look great.” Eli said quietly, finding his voice first. Oh hell, he wasn’t going to survive.

   “Thanks-I mean no-I mean you look too, great I mean.” Steve said, tripping over his words. What the fuck was wrong with him?! God, please don’t say that he had used up all his suave that afternoon.

    Eli couldn’t help but giggle. “Thank you kind sir, but I think I’m kind of overdressed.” He admitted awkwardly.

    “Nah, if anything you can just undo the tie and vest later or something.” Steve offered, letting out a mental sigh of relief that he hadn’t spazzed out again. “You weren’t waiting outside for very long were you?”

   “No, I stepped out just now.” He lied, he had been pacing outside for quite a bit to try and burn off his extra energy.

   “Okay then…so shall we?”

   “Oh no, I would much rather prefer to spend the evening standing awkwardly on the porch with you.” Eli rolled his eyes with a smile.

   “Damn nerd.” Steve chuckled, hesitating for a moment before grabbing Eli’s hand (Hand not wrist this time) and dragging him to the Vespa.

 “Oh my god you guys look so cute!” Claire exclaimed with a laugh, somehow spotting them across the gym that was flashing with lights and flooded with people and waved them over to where she and Jim were (Toby was off dancing with Darci in the middle of the dance floor and not giving a fuck).

   “I’m not fucking cute.” Steve protested with an eye roll. Sure he didn’t think he was, but Eli sure was.

   “Thanks Claire,” Eli said, raising his voice to be heard over the music. “You look really pretty.” She hadn’t re-dyed that white stripe of hair (why would she?) and had a knee length princess scooped white tulle dress to match that. She had also replaced her usual coloured hair clips with two white ones that had a flower on them. A pair of black flats completed the look.

   “Thanks.” She smiled brightly.

    “I really didn’t expect you guys to show up.” Jim couldn’t help but comment, it was more aimed to Steve. Sure Eli liked dances with how he had acted on the whole Spring thing but he had expected Steve to just stay at home or something. Jim had a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up like Steve except he had a black vest and a baby blue tie. He also had black pants and was the only one of the three boys with dress shoes.

   “We all need a break sometime, Lake.” Steve replied with a shrug even though he agreed with Jim. He hadn’t seen himself coming to this thing if Eli hadn’t asked him to go. “Besides, if we had to work on memorizing the layout of that place one more time I was going to scream.”

   “It’s very interesting!” Eli interjected. “First off caverns like that take hundreds of thousands of years to form! Rain mixes with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as it falls to the ground and picks up more of the gas as it seeps into the earth. The result is a mild acidic solution that dissolves calcite, the main mineral of karst rocks. Now most caves are made with karst rocks-by the way karst rocks are a type of formation made with limestone-”

  “Okay! I’m going to go dance with my girlfriend now!” Jim cut in. He didn’t want to interrupt Eli but damn on the last day of school? Jim’s brain _wanted_ to be dead at the moment thank you very much.

   Claire gave Eli an apologetic shrug as Jim led her to the dance floor.

   The committee had a pretty bang up job in transforming the gym to the wonderland they were in now. Somehow the space seemed twice as big. There were streamers practically everywhere, balloons littered the gym ceiling and strobe lights lit up the dark space with flashes of red, green, blues and numerous other colours. The floor was also sprinkled with some kind of confetti that was going to be a pain to clean up later. There were also multi-coloured lights, like Christmas lights, winding around the railing of the bleachers and underneath the seats.

   Plus the snack table didn’t look half bad.

   Steve chuckled when Eli crossed his arms and definitely didn’t pout about his science talk being cut off. “Peppers, is there anything you don’t have information on?”

   Eli gave a little half smile and shrugged. “A lot? I don’t know.”

  “Uh they did a pretty good job decorating the place huh?”

   “Yeah, I especially love the lights on the bleachers.” Eli agreed, eyes shining almost as brightly as the lights he was talking about. “It looks like somebody caught a bunch of fireflies and dyed them the colours of the rainbow.” (Eli you’re so gay it’s like _you’re_ dyed the colours of the rainbow, shut up.)

   “Well do you want to sit there? I mean you could dance if you want but I have no idea what this song is or how to even dance to it but if you want to you can go for it.” Steve asked.

   “Really?! Are we allowed to though?” Eli asked excitedly, looking over at the bleachers. He could see a few people sitting there and no teachers had yelled at those students so… “Top step!” he called before going to said place. Ever since he had finally learned how to climb the rope he loved high places.

   “Don’t run on the goddamn stairs!” Steve yelled after him, following his lead. The nerd was like a puppy.

   Eli was already sitting down when Steve joined him. “Oh wow I can see everything from up here! There’s Jim and Claire! Oh and there’s Toby and Darci!”

    Steve snorted, Eli got amazed so damn easily. Yet another thing that he liked about him. His eyes would just light up and he would just have the most hopeful look on his face and shit, what Steve wouldn’t give to see that face daily. “So what were you going to say about those karst rocks?”

   “Oh! Well just how-” Eli broke off into a very detailed explanation as to exactly what those types of rocks were, how they formed and where they could be found. Now Steve never just asks Eli about something if he doesn’t have the intention of listening, sure he might not understand the whole thing but he always learned at least one new thing.

  They switched between topics after that, from things they noticed about the party to how the outside of NotEnrique’s diaper was always clean (the Changeling rolls around in dirt, how is it still white? Even if it’s changed frequently, I mean come on.) to anything in between. However, whenever song came on that Eli knew he would either mumble the lyrics under his breath or sing out loud, there was no in between. It was so infectious that Steve had to laugh and join in on more than a few.

   “Do you want a drink or something?” Steve asked.

   “Huh?”

   “Well I just thought that you’d be thirsty, I mean I’m parched and I’m going to get something to drink so I can bring something for you if you want.” He elaborated.

   “Oh! Yeah, that’d be nice, thanks!” Eli chimed, a faint blush on his face, that had just sounded so date like…thank Zeus that the lighting wasn’t that good.

   “So Pepsi or something?”

   “Ah whatever there is, I’m not picky.” Eli said, waving the matter away.

    Steve nodded and walked down the steps down the bleachers, swallowing thickly. Okay this was it, while they had been having their conversation he had come to the conclusion that he was going to do it. Once he got back with the drinks…he was going to ask Eli to dance. It wasn’t a big deal right? After all, it wasn’t a big deal right? From up there on the bleachers he had seen Darci and Claire dance and Jim and Toby dance, true that those guys were all just friends but hey, if they could dance together despite being the same gender then he could sure as hell dance with his nerd-the nerd-a nerd-Eli.  

   He let out a sigh. Right…he could do this.

   It took him a bit to weave through the crowd (he swore that some people were dancing like they were trying to merge together or something) to get to the snack table and looked around to see what there was to drink. In the end got some of that fruity bubbly drink thing for the two of them (hey it looked and smelled good), snuck a few chips while he was at it started making his way back to the bleachers.

   Steve looked up, expecting to see Eli waving at him but instead saw these two girls, he couldn’t tell exactly who they were but he was pretty sure that they were part of the cheerleading squad, talking with Eli. Eli, who’s body language screamed awkwardness, said something that Steve couldn’t hear but saw when the girls sighed and waved goodbye to Eli before leaving, Eli gave a nervous little wave as well, fidgeting in his seat.

    “Hey.” He greeted after climbing up the steps and going to where Eli was sitting, frowning a bit when said person jumped a bit. “Everything okay?” he asked, handing the other his drink and took a seat.

   “Y-yeah, everything’s fine.” Eli lied, taking a sip of his drink. He let out a sigh when Steve shot him that ‘I’m not buying it’ look. “They were just asking something, don’t worry about it.”

   “They weren’t being mean or anything right?” Steve asked. Sure the girls weren’t Will, David, and Jack but those assholes weren’t the only ones who could be-well…assholes.

   “What, no!” Eli exclaimed. “One of the girls had asked me to the dance and I had told her that I didn’t even know if I was coming and she saw that I had so she-”

   “Wait someone asked you to the dance? Where was I when this happened?”

   Eli shot him a dirty look. It had been sometime in that one month that they had been apart. “Yes, someone had asked me to the dance, more than one, like two or three but I didn’t even know their _names_ Stevie.” He sighed. “People have just been trying to talk to me since the whole dodgeball thing.”

   “Eliiiiii!” Steve groaned, facepalming “That just means that you’re getting popular! You kicked ass at that game! Of course people would want to talk to you! Plus you got in a fight right after which of course would make people talk-”

   “I don’t _want_ them to talk! And I don’t want to be popular! Especially for stupid things like that! So I can throw a ball, so I can take a punch, big deal!” Eli huffed, throwing his hands up in the air before dropping them and leaning back in his seat. “Sorry.”

   “It’s alright.” Steve reassured quietly, barely audible because of the music. “Look, I get what you mean okay? You want them to see you for you, not for just five minutes of fame moment. I wish I had had that, you know to be able to have my personality put before my jock appearance-no wait scratch that because I have a horrible personality.”

   Eli giggled despite his hardest efforts not to. “No you don’t! Your personality is great!”

   “You can flatter me later.”

   He let out another laugh before sighing. “Geez, I really hope that she doesn’t ask me again the next time you step me away, it was awkward enough turning her down the first time.”

    “Well…” Now or never. “There is one way to keep someone from asking you to dance.” Steve said, Eli let out a questioning ‘hm?’ signalling him to continue. “And that’s if you dance with me. It’s social etiquette you know? You don’t ask someone to dance if you see they’re already dancing with someone else.”

    “Are you serious?” Asked Eli who was positively slack jawed.

    “It’s only if you want to.” Steve reminded.

    “I want to but-! Stevie, would you be...comfortable? It would be on the dance floor and there’s people and the cov-”

    “Pepperpal.” Steve interrupted. “It’s the last day of school and it’s a party, a party that I came to with you and I want to have a good time. No cover. Okay? No. Cover.” Eli suddenly hugged him fiercely, surprising the two of them.

   “Thanks you.” He murmured against the crook of Steve’s neck (Steve would be a damned liar if he said that that didn’t cause his skin to erupt in goosebumps or for a chill to run down his spine), giving one more squeeze before pulling back and giving him a bright smile. “Come on, let’s go.”

   It was an upbeat song so they didn’t have to worry about slow dancing which killed some of the tension. Steve had believed that he was a fairly good dancer but compared to Eli he didn’t even come close! The way that Eli glided to the music, matching each beat perfectly, moving his hips in a way that should be illegal paired with that look that Eli had donned, it made Steve trip over his own feet a few times causing Eli to laugh.

   “Just loosen up Stevie!” Eli giggled. They weren’t dancing in the centre of the room but they weren’t exactly in the corner either.

   “Oh shut up!” Steve exclaimed, face flushed. “Not everyone can be as graceful as you!”

   Eli laughed again and took a short bow. “May I?” Steve quirked an eyebrow on confusion but understood when the other grabbed his hands. Oh. Eli gave him a reassuring smile before moving for the two of them, twirling around the other and showing him how to move his body. “It’s not grace,” Eli corrected, lifting his arm up and with it Steve’s, let it go, spun two times fast and grabbed Steve’s hand (which was still raised in shock) once more. “This is years of dance classes.”

   “Wait you actually took dance classes?” Steve asked, that certainly explained the lithe angel (or demon, he couldn’t tell which) that was swaying to the beat.

   “Mm, a few ballroom ones, ballet, rumba, things like that, my mom thought that it would help me express myself. Dancing…it’s temporary art, it’s there for a moment but a person stops their movements-” he empathized his point by stopping. “And suddenly the art is put on pause too. All the more reason to admire it longer don’t you think?”

   “I’m so out of my depth.” Was the only thing that he could say. What happened to that nerdy dancing that Eli had done after their first mission? Okay maybe Eli had just been mimicking his own nerdy dancing…Eli laughed and began dancing once more. And Steve would be damned if he didn’t try doing his best to do this darn thing.

    He soon found that one couldn’t think when it came to dancing. Thinking is mechanical, sure when one is practicing a new dance when choreographing one had to think but with something like this, with someone like _him_ …feeling worked better. Feeling the pulse of the music, feeling Eli’s hand in his and Eli’s fingers running along his shoulders when he spun around him, just…feeling. And he loved every second. Laughing when he (and occasional Eli) tripped, the two of them inventing dances as they went along; it was incredible.

   They came up with a rhythm that sort of reminded Steve of those swing and jitterbug dance videos his mom loved to watch (without all the tossing around mind you, they were at school, not the best place for that). But the looseness of the dance, the freedom, the _fun_ , were the elements that reminded him of that. At one part however Steve spun Eli under his arm and actually moved him into a dip causing Eli to burst into a fit of giggles.

    And then the stupidest thing to happen so far that night happened. The upbeat song that had been playing ending and a new one started. A slow song. A very popular one in fact. Just a slow little song with beautiful lyrics and tune called ‘Rewrite the Stars’.

    Eli’s eyes widened momentarily and he stood back upright, letting go of Steve’s hands altogether. Yes Steve had agreed to dance with him, but dancing to something like this, with him, it was far too…personal, too intimate, too dangerous. He looked awkwardly to the floor, feet shifting nervously in place. “S-so uh do you want to go back to the bleachers?”

   Steve’s brows furrowed, this had been one of Eli’s favourite parts of the film, fuck it had been one of his favourite parts too. “Didn’t you say that you know ballroom dancing? I’ve always wanted to learn that.” He had to stifle a laugh when Eli looked back up at him, eyes as wide as saucers.

 

     Will had his arms crossed against his chest and was leaning against the wall, scowling at the whole dance floor before angrily checking his watch again. Where the fuck was Steve? Lawrence was here and Will had heard about that little rumour floating around that Coach was dating Steve’s mom so shouldn’t Steve be there too? Things had gone downhill since he and the others had jumped Elijah, man that had felt good. But he certainly hadn’t expected the little pig to squeal, he never had before.

    David, Jack, and he had gotten in trouble, nothing too serious (by his standards, his parents never did shit) but it had been enough to chicken the other two into saying ‘hey maybe we should lay off Elijah’. As if he would. What did Steve even see in that freak? Steve probably didn’t even know exactly how freaky that whole family was, Elijah and his freak ass brother and their mom who helped people ‘talk through their feelings’, what bullshit, no wonder Elijah’s father had cheated on her and had run off with that bimbo.

    But it had worked out in the end; Elijah had certainly avoided Steve after that. He hadn’t seen the two of them even look at each other for the past month (he had spent the last week with a cold) and life was good (what the fuck are you talking about Will? It’s not like you got to hang out with him.). Well except for the fact that Steve’s ass still wasn’t anywhere to be found. Will hadn’t bothered dressing up, why would he? It was just a lame ass dance. It’s not as if teachers would dress code him after all. One of the perks of being on a team.

    Finally, _finally_ he was able to spot that familiar blonde head of hair (that wasn’t fucking Jack, he had made that mistake before) in the crowd of people. He gave a smirk of triumph and began to weave his way through the crowd like a tiger stalking its prey, only to have that shark smile fall from his face when he saw just who he was dancing with.

   When the **hell** had the freak and him made up?! When the **hell** had they gotten to the dance?! And more importantly, why the **hell were they slow dancing together**!?! Was Eli actually _leading_? Was this some sort of jo-…oh. A joke. Of course it was a joke. Why else would Steve waste his time with Elijah? Smile back in place he continued walking over to them.

    “Hi there Steve, fancy seeing you here.” Will said, completely disregarding Elijah but loving the way said person’s face paled, immediately looking away.

    “Why are you here?” Steve snapped, glaring at him.

    “Uh rude, is that any way to treat your friends?” Will asked, legitimately surprised that Steve was angry with him.

    “People who beat up my friends are not my fucking friends, especially not you. Could you just get lost?” The _last_ thing he wanted Will doing was fucking this up for him, after all Steve was good enough at messing things up himself (Steve’s words not mine.)

    “Oh I get it, you don’t want me to mess up this little charade of yours right? This whole joke you have of pretending to be friends with him?” Will asked sweetly.

    “What?” Questioned Eli meekly.

   “Eli, he’s just messing with your head okay, don’t listen to him.” He said softly, looking at him before turning back to Will and glaring at him again.  “Will, leave _now_.”

   “Come on Steve, the only reason you would be hanging out with this freak is if you were pulling a joke on him, Eli even said it himself.”

   “Can we please leave?” Eli whispered, begging.

   “Yeah.” Steve agreed, nodding and letting him go and grabbing his hand, moving to walk off the dance floor. “It’ll be okay, okay? He’s just an ass.” He whispered to him.

   “Are you _kidding_ me?” Will scoffed, not getting the hint at all. “You choose that _freak_ over me?! That whole family is full of freaks; what with him and his mom, not to mention his creepy as fuck brother!”

    Eli froze, turning around, eyes cold. “Do _not_ call Gwen a creep.”

    Will smiled, happy to have gotten on Elijah’s nerves. “I call them as I see them Eli. I’m just saying what everyone thinks of him.”

    “Will, shut up.” Eli said through gritted teeth, the hold he had on Steve’s tightened. He felt the pit in his stomach sink further.

   “Oh what? Don’t get so defensive, I’m not the only one who thinks he’s a creepy, pedo, tr-”

   “Shut up!” Eli shouted, letting go of Steve’s hand and running to Will. He would have punched him in the face if Steve hadn’t grabbed him. “Do _not_ talk about my sister like that!” he screamed, struggling to get free. The three of them were definitely getting some looks down. Will just laughed.

    “Eli, Eli calm down okay. Don’t give him this.” Steve whisper shouted into his ear even though he wanted to punch Will too. He didn’t exactly know what Will was talking about but he had a feeling that he could guess. Eli stopped moving and Steve sighed. “Thank you.”

   “Let me go.” Eli said, voice barely audible and numb. Steve did and no sooner were Steve’s hands off him did Eli turn and around and ran out of the room. Running yet again. Why did he always have to run from his goddamn problems? Oh right, it was the only way he knew how to deal with them.

   “You are such an ass you know that?!” Steve shouted, jabbing a finger at Will’s chest.

    “Calm down Steve, geez, I was just messing with him.” Said Will, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

    “That wasn’t fucking funny! This wasn’t a goddamn joke, Will, the only joke around here is you, well you and that stupid one sided infatuation you have for me which I know about just letting you know, _never_ going to happen by the way, now if you excuse me, the person I _actually **care**_ about just went running away because of _you_!”  Steve shouted at him, allowing himself one second to see the shocked, hurt, look on Will’s face before running after Eli.

 

    “There you are, Pepperbuddy.” Steve sighed, finally spotting Eli who had gone around to the front of the school and was sitting on the steps, vest open and tie undone. He had almost missed spotting him, it was pretty dark. “I’m sorry.” He said softly, sitting down next to him.

    “You asked me what I don’t have information on; I don’t have information as to why some people are such douchebags!” Eli’s arms where crossed as if he were hugged himself and tried to keep from shaking. It wasn’t his usual frightened shaking, no this shaking was due to anger.

    “No one does, Eli, some people just _are_.” Steve said quietly, putting an arm around Eli’s shoulder and giving him a squeeze. Eli sighed and leaned into him, they stayed quiet for a few minutes but Steve had to ask, not to be rude, just to be sure as to what Will had been talking about. “So your sister-”

    “Yeah, she is.” Eli cut in, going rigid at Steve’s side. “She started transitioning when she was fifteen and Will was already giving me hell before that but once he found out how much Gwen means to me he started using her. And just-he said that he was going to keep messing with her and I told him to back off because she wasn’t in a good place back then and he said ‘would you rather I pick on you twice as much because I can ruin your life’ and I said go ahead and-” Eli groaned scrunching his eyes shut as if the very memory wounded him and in a way it did.

   “Hey, like you said he’s a douche. Trust me; next year he isn’t getting a spot on any team, I happen to know the coach.” He said, smiling when Eli gave a snort. “You’re very brave, Gwen’s lucky to have a little brother like you.”

   “You’re a dork and would you mind telling her that? She threatened to not give me brownies next time she visits since I didn’t let her listen in on the rest of our conversation yesterday.” Eli chuckled, already in somewhat better spirits. “Hey there’s Perseus.” He pointed up to the star filled sky.

   “Uh which group of dots?” Steve asked, looking up as well. He couldn’t spot/name a constellation to save his life.

    “Those.” Eli clarified, pointing to a cluster that looked the same as the rest of the sky to Steve. “It can be seen all year long and shows Perseus carrying the severed head of Medusa.” Could he help it if facts calmed him down?

    “Huh.” One of the group of stars kind of looked like that to him but he couldn’t tell if he was seeing the right one or not. “Do you know any others?”

    Eli spent the next few minutes pointing out some other constellations, Lyra, Hercules, Ophiuchus and Sagittarius before they just sat in silence looking at the night sky. They both loved moments like this, where they talked without speaking and heard each other with perfect clarity without uttering a word. Where they were just Steve and Eli, not the jock and the nerd, where they could forget about the impending danger of Gunmar, forget about school and standards and secrets and just be themselves.

    “Why are me and Gwen the only damn LGBT+ people in this town?” Eli muttered all of a sudden.

    Steve froze. “What?” S-so Eli really did like gu-

   Eli’s eyes widened and he moved back, looking at Steve with wide and fearful eyes. He hadn’t meant to say that. He hadn’t meant to tell Steve the one thing that he never wanted him to find out about. “Steve I want to go home.” He said in a rush, bottom lip trembling. Why had he said that?

    “Eli-”

    “Now, Steve!” he pleaded, voice wavering even though he was trying to keep his cool; trying and failing miserably. Steve sighed heavily and even though the motion pained him, he nodded.

 

    The night was cool and crisp a perfect image of calm, no other cars on the road, no dogs barking for once, silent as a tomb. Neither of them spoke, Steve simply because he didn’t know what to say, Eli because he had said enough and if he said one more syllable they would be accompanied with tears. Still, out of courtesy once they got to his house he got off the Vespa and forced out a “Thank you, I had a good time.” Before turning and quickly walking to the front door, head down and shoulders hunched as if the world was going to fall on him.

    He didn’t even realize that Steve had followed him until he reached for the doorknob and Steve grabbed his wrist, stopping him. “Steve, please…just let me go.”

   “Eli, just hold on okay? Why won’t you talk to me?” Steve asked, grabbing his shoulder and gently making Eli turn his way.

   “There’s nothing to talk about. Just please, forget about what I said.” He pleaded, still looking at the ground knowing that if he saw Steve’s face he was going to lose the thin mask he had to hide behind.

    “Peppers that-that doesn’t _matter,_ well I mean it _doesn’t_ doesn’t matter I mean I’m-”

    “Drop it! It matters to Will, it matters to David, to Jack, and to every single person who has slammed me into a locker or knocked down my tray table or given me a wedgie or called me names! So don’t lie and say it doesn’t matter to you!” Eli shouted, cutting off Steve’s rambling, finally looking up at him with watery eyes and glaring.

   “But not for the reason that you think!” Steve reasoned. This was going downhill fast.

   “No!? And what reason would that be?!”

   “Can I kiss you?!” Steve asked instead, blurting out the question that he had been trying to ask all week, hell not just all week, since he didn’t know how long ago.

    Eli froze, mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out. He looked to the ground once more, shaking slightly. “Do you really think that’s _funny_ Steve?” he asked coldly, hands balled into fists at his sides.

    This surprised Steve, he had imagined the outcome of this numerous times. Sometimes the outcome was Eli laughing in his face or actually saying yes and kissing him or something like that but _this_? He thought that he was joking? “Eli, I’m-”

    “You can joke about the whole Leslie thing; you can joke about the science crisis, but **_don’t_** joke about this, Palchuk.” Eli said angrily quickly opening the front door and entering the house, slamming the door.

   Steve stood there in shock. No. No, no, no, that didn’t just happen right? He hadn’t-Eli hadn’t-he. He couldn’t breathe, it felt like a giant had grabbed him and was squeezing his lungs together. He couldn’t… Steve had let him get away. It took him a moment to realize that he was shaking. It took another to realize that the reason why he couldn’t see right was because tears were obscuring his vision.

 

   Eli was in no better shape. He had ran up to his room like something was after him, had thrown the door shut locking it behind him and was trying to keep from crying his heart out on his bed. Why did tonight have to go this way? Wasn’t the last dance supposed to be a happy time where you hang out with your friends, dance with the one you love? He scrunched his eyes shut and gripped his pillow tighter against his chest. Will had been right, this whole thing was a joke. The thing that Steve had just said, a joke. Eli’s feelings for Steve, a joke. He, he was the biggest joke of all. Shouldn’t he have learned? Don’t. Fall. For. The. Straight. Ones. He had read some many books; a lot of those had been some science books so he knew quite a bit about the human body. But none of those books had an explanation as to how a heart could ache without there being a physical, medical cause. Yet he felt like his heart had exploded, like it was gone, it had taken off on its Vespa and had gone home, away from the poor little gay boy.

    He choked on a sob and buried his face into the pillow. Boys sucked. He was always so peppy, even when he was getting shoved into lockers or things like that, he always put on a brave face. But…just for a moment…could he feel sad? Could he just be an emotional mess on his bed? When no one was watching? He would pick himself up later, promise, but right now…right now he couldn’t. His whole body shook with sobs, which was probably why he didn’t notice his phone ringing in his pocket at first.

    He sniffed and pulled it out and unlocked it. His mom wouldn’t like it if he missed a text from her. Only it wasn’t his mom. The phone screen read ‘Creepslayerz first half’ as if taunting him. He scowled and shoved the cursed item under his pillow. Out of sight out of mind. Except the phone kept ringing, and ringing. “Just shut up!” he shouted at the phone from underneath the pillow.

   The blasted ringing finally stopped after what seemed like an eternity because after the first call there had been another and another on end, now the room seemed as quiet and empty as he felt. He wiped his eyes, not succeeding in wiping his tears away, and pulled the phone out from under the pillow and almost shoved it in the drawer of his bedside table. Instead the phone gave a soft ping in his hands. New message. Ping. New message. Ping. Ping. Ping. He growled at the phone, he could just turn the damn thing off and that would be the end of it. But…damn it…

    Eli clicked the messages, reading through them one by one.

   ‘ _Eli, I’m sorry.’_  

   ‘ _Pepperpal I’m sorry about what happened at the dance. Will’s a douche okay?’_

_‘And about what happened when we got back.’_

_‘But I’m mostly sorry for being a shitty friend and that you thought that it was a joke. I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to ask you ‘that’ for a while and I’ll admit the timing was less than…ideal.’_ All the air in the room had suddenly been sucked out and he was finding it hard to breathe. His fingers shook as he scrolled to the next message. New messages were already being sent as he read.

 _‘Have you ever cared about a person so much that your heart hurts just **thinking** about them?’ _His heart was hurting a lot as is.

 _‘That you’ll admit that you care about them but won’t use the word ‘love’ just yet because that word is too overused and doesn’t accurately describe what you feel.’_  “Oh my god, he-I-he-” he hadn’t stopped crying from earlier but now the tears were for another reason altogether.

_‘And every moment you text or talk with them feels like your walking on air, every smile they give washes over you like warm sunlight.’_

_‘Did you know that’s what makes your heart hurt? Because you’re worried that if you mess up you’ll be in the dark again.’_

_‘In case you haven’t figured it out by now you dense nerd, you’re my sunlight, I was always fighting everyone that got close to me but you got through and now that I let you in I’m no good without you. I can’t do the things that I used to do without you anymore. Ask Lawrence, I was miserable that month without you.’_ (Yes, part of what Steve is saying is what he wanted to say last time) Oh god he was going to have a heart attack. Had he stopped breathing? Eli felt like he wasn’t breathing.

 _‘Actually don’t ask him, he’ll probably say something embarrassing.’_ Eli gave a teary chuckle. Of course Steve would say something like that.

 _‘So in case it **still** isn’t clear, I really fucking like you, even more than I like Creepslaying.’ _That was the last message. This time he gave an actual laugh (a bit choked from snot but still). “Stupid Jock.” He had the biggest smile on his face before it fell. “HOW THE FUCK DO I ANSWER THIS!?” Awkwardness to the rescue!

   His phone buzzed in his hands. ‘ _One: Language. Two: Even though I said you’re my sunlight I’m freezing my fucking ass off out here.’_ There was a knock on the window and Eli jumped.

   Steve was outside his window, giving him an awkward wave, phone still in hand, a bright blush on tear streaked cheeks and the most hopeful expression on his face, although is it was mixed with a touch of fear. Eli knew that Steve’s expression was probably a mirror of his own.

    Eli’s fingers flew over the keyboard, sending him a text before dropping the phone on the bed and running to the window. It was just one word ‘ _Yes’_ Eli unlatched the window and opened it, Steve gave his phone a puzzled look before looking back to Eli.

   “Ah, I swear that I didn’t mean this to be a creepy window stalker thing.” Steve began. “It’s just that with how you are with m-mushy stuff like that I knew you wouldn’t be able to answer and I had to see you after sending _that_ a-and-” He was cut off by Eli grabbing the collar of his shirt with both hands and finally, _finally_ kissing him, quickly before pulling back, face a lovely rose colour.

   “S-sorry, I don’t know what came over me. B-But hey you asked s-so…” Eli stammered, giving Steve a shy smile, heart thudding happily in his chest and his nerves on the edge. It wasn’t a dream; there was no waking up to take this moment away. Oh god that was scary, how else was he supposed to escape his own awkwardness?

   “Again.” Steve said quietly, cupping Eli’s face with his trembling hands and gently pressing his lips to Eli’s once more, kissing him long and slow. Eli kissed back, hands still fisting Steve’s collar. It was soft and sweet and even better than either had imagined. Butterflies came to life inside of the two of them, starting in their centre and spreading their warmth to the rest of their body.

   “Holy shit…” Steve said once they broke apart, voice quivering, a huge blush on his face. This was actually happening. Ha! He had so eaten the fucking butterflies! Or had they eaten him? He wasn’t sure.

   “Wait are you actually trembling?” Eli asked, surprised. Steve was too cute.

   “No! Shut up, it’s cold out here!” Steve denied, blush deepening. Eli giggled but moved back so he could climb in through the window, he closed the window after himself. Steve’s hair was all mussed up, probably from running his hand through it too much. Eli was going to give a smart ass remark but was cut off by Steve wrapping his arms around him and pulling him close, hugging him fiercely. “I care about you so damn much.”

    Eli’s eyes widened before he scrunched them shut, burying his face in Steve’s chest as he hugged him back just as tightly. “Stevie Palchuk don’t you dare make me cry again.” He whined into his chest, causing Steve to giggle.

    “Wouldn’t dream if it, Peppers.”

    “I-I didn’t choose a lot of things, I didn’t choose to be messed with for being obsessed with monsters, I didn’t choose to have the eyesight of a bat, I certainly didn’t choose being this short… b-but I did choose you Stevie.” Eli admitted, voice muffled but Steve could hear him and his breath hitched. He would have answered but Eli pulled back and looked at him before stating. “Damn we missed so many groping opportunities.”

    “Eli!” Steve screeched; face flaming crimson as he let Eli go. God he had been trying to have a sappy moment and then he has to say _that_. Eli on the other hand was laughing at his reaction. “I’m trying to be fucking romantic you turd!”

   “I’m sorry,” Eli apologized between laughs before sobering up. “So u-um how does this whole thing work?” he asked, gesturing between the two of them.

   Steve shrugged, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly “What are ‘coupley’ things? I mean we’ve done ‘couple’ things already. We had a big fight but survived, we’ve done chores together cause I’m counting that food run as a chore, adopted an animal- well not animal but we did have a flour sack. Does NotEnrique count as an animal?”

   “Flip was not an animal, he was a hero! And NotEnrique isn’t an animal either!” Eli protested, appalled that Steve had compared their past child to an animal. “And that’s not what I meant…um our parents, school, p-people…” He didn’t know if Steve was comfortable with his sexual preference or not or if he even wanted other people to know.

   “Coach Lawrence and my mom knew that I had a crush on you, I think, I mean they sure acted like it. And school, I kind of said something along the lines of ‘the person I care about just went running away because of you’ to Will and I _may_ have been shouting. Steve said with an apologetic wince.

   “You did?” he asked, eyes wide, before crossing his arms. “You told _Will_ and half the school about your feelings for me before you told me?” he deadpanned.

   “I tried to tell you but you thought that I was joking.” Steve pointed out.

   Now it was Eli’s turn to wince. “Sorry, I…I just didn’t think that it was possible. Geez I need to work on communicating.”

    “Both of us do, we’ll figure it out okay? One step at a time, maybe we can talk about that on our second date?” he offered optimistically.

   “Second?” Eli asked, puzzled.

   “Ah, I kind of – I kind of counted the time I took you to the theatre as an official date. Before it went downhill I mean! Th-that’s what I had been trying to tell you and I had gotten pissed at _myself_ for chickening out.”

   “Are you kidding me!?” Eli shouted. Why the hell had both of them been so stupid?! He sighed. “Okay, we’re definitely working on communication on our third date.” Upon seeing the confused look at Steve’s face Eli smiled. “I was counting this dance as a date. So Steve Palchuk,” he took a bow. “Would you be so kind as to accompany to the caves tomorrow as a third date?”

   Steve broke into pearls of laughter, covering his face with one hand. He had feelings for the biggest dork on the world! Aw, but Eli had asked him before he could ask him! Damnit! “Stand up you nerd, oh my god!”

   “Is that a yes?” Asked Eli, smiling as he righted himself.

   “Alright, fine!”

   “Yes! Now go home, it’s late and I don’t want you to be tired for tomorrow.” He said matter of factly.

   “Uh rude.” Steve deadpanned, crossing his arms. Could he help it if he didn’t want to leave?

   “Fine, then how about ‘Please my fair Stevie, although you are striking to look at no matter what, I feel as if it would be better if you go home and rest your pretty little head’.”

    Steve flushed. “Geez no need to go fucking overboard.” He mumbled. Stop sounding adorable if you’re trying to get me to leave! “Walk me down?”

   “Do you even have to ask?” They went downstairs together, both feeling lighter, a huge weight off their chests, more open.

   “That went better than I had thought it would.” Steve said, sighing in relief, standing on the front porch while Eli stood just inside the doorway. “Everything’s still normal, now we’re just, you know aware of what we’re feeling.” He couldn’t ask for more.

   He hummed in agreement. “But it’s not completely normal, after all,” he grabbed Steve’s collar once again (the only way he could pull him down to his height) “now there’s this.” He breathed against Steve’s lips, not even an inch apart from his before kissing him for the third time that night.

    Steve froze for a moment in shock but quickly relaxed, tangling his fingers in his hair and kissing him back. He was never going to get enough of _this_. Why did Eli have to be such a good kisser? Even with this chaste little kiss he felt drunk, wanting more. It was just…it was indescribable, unlike anything he had ever felt before. And he just wanted more, he had only kissed him three times and he was already addicted. Eli was his drug and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

   “Goodnight, Stevie.” Eli whispered, pulling back.

   He let go of Eli and sighed dreamily “Night, Eli.” He hesitated for a moment but turned around and went to his Vespa parked next to the sidewalk.

    Eli silently shut the door, locking it behind him before covering his face in his hands, his palms not doing much to muffle his squeals. He. Had. Just. Kissed. Steve. Three. Times! He heard the Vespa rev up and Steve let lose a victory cry before speeding off. Eli’s eyes stung with new tears at how much that had made him laugh.

   Aw damn it…his glasses were smudged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck you, fuck this, fuck everything (so not emotional right now) Gwen is transgender if you didn't realize it, fuck you I decided this last minute and it ended up helping because of the "Me and Gwen are the only LGBTQ+ people in this town" thing. So fuck you all. (I'm fucking flustered right now and these end notes are going to crappy because someone won't let me update this damn thing XD)  
> NEXT CHAPTER IS NOT NECESSARY, BUT FUCK ME DEAD BECAUSE I'M DOING STUPID SHIT NEXT CHAPTER (no not sex you pervs XD) Buuuttt...I've been trying to put together a part two and I'm not going to lie, so far the plot is pretty fucking free form. So next chapter is like a teaser of that? It's not exactly necessary. So no worries if you don't read it. THIS IS SUCH A HUGE IMPROVEMENT FROM MY FIRST FANFIC LIKE Y'ALL HAVE NO IDEA! I'M JUST FHSKSKSNSSBSAMS YELL AT ME ALL YOU WANT PEOPLE! I FUCKING LOVE IT XD  
> Thanks for putting up with all the cockblocks and spelling errors (they're there, I know it) and for my crazy ass mind, pfft I drew some scenes from this story to be honest but I think only one is completed or something.  
> Random question: Who's seen the new season of Voltron? It's fucking amazing.  
> FUCKING YES, JUST REALIZED THIS WILL BE THIRTEEN CHAPTERS AND THAT'S MY FAVOURITE NUMBER!  
> So there, they're together. Happy? Someone help Eli with his glasses. (I have glasses so I know =_=) I have a lot more that I want to say but I'm brain dead. If you could tell people about this story, just yell about it or share it then that would be kickass. (Not trying to sound desperate, I'm just proud of this mess)


	13. Tear (Tear As In Teardrop, Fuckin Homographs, Can't Let Me Have A Serious Title Without Risking The Confusion Of Readers, And Steve And Eli Are Supposed To Be The Only Homo-Anythings Around Here!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Were they supposed to act different now? Or had they already been acting like a couple without knowing it? What was the difference between acting like friends and acting like…more than friends? Not including kissing of course. Just…what were the lines? What were the rules? Well they supposed that that was for them to decide and talk about. Oh god all this talking was going to be embarrassing. But necessary. Absolutely necessary. They both wanted this to work, more than anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fucking love this title XD I realized that Tear (a drop of the salty liquid that moistens the eyes and the inner eyelids and that flows from the eyes when someone is crying.) was spelled the same as Tear (pull or rip (something) apart or to pieces with force.) SO I DID THE ONLY LOGICAL THING AND RUINED A SERIOUS TITLE! XD  
> WARNING: THIS ENDS IN A CLIFF HANGER.  
> WARNING: THINGS SORT OF GO OFF SCRIPT NEXT PART SINCE THERE IS NO THIRD SEASON THUS FAR.  
> WARNING: WHY DID I DO THIS DAMN IT?  
> WARNING: NEVER ROLLER BLADE, EVER. MY ASS HAD NEVER BEEN SORER AND MY PALMS HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE TENDER AND THAT'S SAYING SOMETHING! Feel free to insert a Lenny Face XD

   It would be fine if Eli hid under his bed all day right? God what had come over him last night?! Why did Steve make him so…brave? Bold? Reckless? All of those options? None of them? Ugh, at the moment it was fun and exhilarating but now…now he was just **embarrassed**. When he had first woken up he had thought that it was a dream before his mind kicked into high gear. Had he actually made Steve _speechless_? Well he would be lying if he said that he hadn’t enjoyed that reaction-ah stop it brain! He had still assumed that it had been dream for a bit because hey, that was the only logical explanation but then he had checked his phones and the messages. Were. There. Plus a new one that was just two words ‘Good morning’ and turned Eli into a sap smiling at his phone.

    The bad thing was that the message had been sent about three hours ago (Eli slept late on weekends) and he wasn’t sure whether to answer it or not. Would it be rude not to? Or would it be worse to answer so long after? Yeah, he was definitely hiding under the bed at this point.

   “Elijah! Breakfast!” Leslie called from downstairs. Well scratch that idea! Ugh, he wanted to talk to Gwen. Eli groaned and covered his head with the blanket. He couldn’t wake up if he wasn’t there. Logic.

    That worked for about ten minutes before there was a knock on his door. He gave a groan in response, pushing his face further into the pillow. Ten more minutes…or decades? Please? “Elijah, wake up. Did Steve stay over again?”

   “No!” Eli shouted from underneath the covers. Answering both questions at once. The _last_ thing he would have wanted was for Steve to have stayed over last night, or maybe it was actually the first thing?

   “Elijah Leslie Pepperjack, no yelling first thing in the morning.” She scolded before entering the room, swallowing a chuckle when she caught sight of the lump underneath the covers. “Are you alive?”

    “Nooo.”

   “Did you have a good time?” she asked, sitting on the edge of the bed, it dipped under her, alerting Eli that she was there.

   “Yeaaah.” He groaned, mouth still sticky with sleep.

   “Then get up!” she commanded, swatting at the lump. Eli snorted and popped his head out of the covers, hair sticking up in every direction. She frowned. “Elijah, I am _sure_ that you didn’t fall asleep before changing out of your clothes.”

   “Um…oops?” Eli shrugged, a lopsided smile on his face. He might have forgotten to change with all that had happened.

   “Oops.” She repeated, rolling her eyes. “Now come downstairs, I worked very hard reheating these Eggos.”

 

    “Did anything interesting happen at the dance?” His mother asked once Eli was done scarfing down his food. (Oversleeping combined with a possible emotional combustion tend to make a person hungry.)

   “It was so awesome! There were lights everywhere and the bleachers had these Christmas lights and there was confetti just about everywhere-I don’t know how they’ll ever clean all that up-and the music was actually pretty good.” Food put him in a more talkative mood. Besides, he would much rather describe the place than say the other interesting things that had transpired the night before.

   “No, no,” she shook her head. “This morning I got a call from Coach Lawrence saying that Will had caused a little disruption with you and Steve. What was that about?” She didn’t sound angry, just concerned. Lawrence hadn’t heard what had happened but he had seen enough to tell that Will had done something.

   “Oh.” Well isn’t that a lovely morning conversation. “It wasn’t anything important; he was just messing with me. It was fine really, Stevie helped.” Although the memory of Will wasn’t the pleasantest, his lips quirked in a smile. Steve _could_ have beaten the crap out of Will, everyone knew that he could but instead he had gone to make sure he was alright.

   It was just…sweet.

   “Steve didn’t bring you home too late did he?”

   “No mom, I got home before the time you told me to.” he said with a smile and a little eye roll. “Have you talked to Gwen lately? I was going to video call her later and you _know_ she’ll cause World War III if you blow her off again.” He had a _lot_ to get her up to speed with; the last forty eight hours had been insane.

    “I spoke with her yesterday, you’re good to go. A little warning though, she is **demanding** gossip.” She teased before taking a sip of her coffee. Both she and her son were late risers on weekends.

    “It’s Gwen mom, of course she is.” He pointed out. Once we was done eating he started doing the dishes, it was one of his preferred chores since he would always put music when he would do so (and totally would never dance like a dork or anything like that…). His mom went to the living room to go watch T.V while he worked. He was just finishing up when there was a knock at the front door.

   “I got it!” Eli called, shaking his hands dry and going to answer the door. If it was Steve he figured that it would be a bit awkward if his mom answered the door instead. He opened the door and smiled brightly when he saw that his guess was right.

   Eli still hadn’t changed out of his clothes so they were all wrinkled at this point, his hair was messed up and sticking up everywhere, his sleeves had been rolled up so he could do dishes and he had the sweetest smile on his face. Once again Steve was left debating if Eli looked adorable or hot. “Hey.”

    “Hey.” Eli repeated, shuffling a bit in the doorway. “Sorry, I just woke up.” He explained, running a hand through his hair, suddenly self-conscious.

   “I’m early anyway, don’t worry about it.” Steve waved it off. He leaned forward a bit, looking past Eli to the inside of the house. “Hey where’s your mom?”

   “I thought you were here to see me.” Teased Eli, rolling his eyes. “She’s in the living room.”

   “Oh, uh so do you think I can…?”

   “Yeah, you can come in, sorry.” Eli apologized, moving out of the way.

   Steve frowned a bit but entered the house anyway. Well she couldn’t hear them from the living room. “I meant if I could give you a uh you know.”

   “Huh? Oh!” Eli’s eyebrows shot up as he understood before furrowing. “But you asked while we were still outside. Someone might have seen if we did.”

   “I know.” Steve blurted before sighing and scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “I’m trying to work on that.” He mumbled. “School is out anyway since it’s summer so if anyone did see it wouldn’t be as bad as if school was in session. And I just want to practice with that, uh the being seen thing.”

    “Stevie…” he was speechless. Steve had already been working on hanging out with him in normal places and things like that but now he wanted to work on getting used to public affection? His boyfriend-w-was he allowed to use that word or was it still too soon?-is so sweet. “That’s just…”

   “Yeah dumb I know.”

   “No!” Eli got on his tiptoes and pressed a short kiss to his – to Steve’s lips. “It’s incredible. Whatever you’re comfortable with okay?” he said when he moved back. He knew that Steve had issues and insecurities with his sexuality and that it was mostly (if not all) due to his father but the fact that he was willing to try this much for him, it moved him in ways that he couldn’t describe.

   Steve gave a little sigh of relief and gave one of his cocky little smiles. “And the fact that practicing that involves kissing is definitely a perk. I still have to get on your level.” He admitted that last part, looking to the side, cheeks dusted in a faint pink.

    “Oh come on, you’re good.” Eli giggled even as he blushed at the compliment.

    “Yeah, well I still need practice.” Steve smirked, leaning down and brushing his lips against Eli’s before pulling back a bit. “Help me out?” Eli didn’t need to be told twice before he kissed him again, wrapping his arms around his neck. The kiss was sweet and slow, happiness spreading through them warmly as if they were sitting in front of a fireplace. Why had they waited so long to do this? But it didn’t last nearly as long as they would have liked before Eli pulled away.

   “I have to change so we can go.” He whispered apologetically. Plus they were still in front of the door and he didn’t want his mom to walk in. Eli was going to tell her about…all _this_ , but not right now.

   “Yeah.” Steve agreed reluctantly, letting go of Eli’s hips (when had his hands gotten there?) and using one hand to brush Eli’s hair out of his face before flushing and dropping his hand. “Sorry.” He was trying to be a gentleman or whatever but how the hell did it work? What could or couldn’t he do? God, they didn’t have to talk that out too did they?

    “It’s cute when you get embarrassed.” Eli couldn’t help but comment.

    “It is not and I do not!” Steve denied automatically, blush deepening. Eli chuckled and made his way up the stairs to get changed as promised, he might as well shower while he was at it.

 

   Not too long after they were on their way to the caverns where this whole adventure had started. Neither could deny that the atmosphere had changed, sure it was a normal ride as usual but…ah it was sort of like the ride they took after Steve had stayed the night, that something had changed but neither was mentioning it. Except this time…well they had definitely mentioned it. So now that it was out there they wanted to talk about it, were open to talk about it but the words…the words wouldn’t cooperate with them, wouldn’t put themselves in an order that would accurately describe what they both wanted to say.

   Were they supposed to act different now? Or had they already been acting like a couple without knowing it? What was the difference between acting like friends and acting like…more than friends? Not including kissing of course. Just…what were the lines? What were the rules? Well they supposed that that was for them to decide and talk about. Oh god all this talking was going to be embarrassing. But necessary. Absolutely necessary. They both wanted this to work, more than anything.

   “Five bucks say that we’re going to be working on that map again.” Steve said, hiding the Vespa on the side of the road like he always did.

   “I’m not taking that bet because that’s exactly what Blinky said that we were going to be doing for a while.” Said Eli, rolling his eyes.

   “You can’t blame me for trying to make some money.”  He started walking up the usual path, Eli falling into step next to him. “But I swear, if NotEnrique drops down from nowhere on more time and tackles me I’m kicking him like the football he is.” He didn’t mean a word of that.

   “But you don’t have a problem when it’s you doing the jumping and tackling.” Eli said matter of factly.

   “…I don’t need your logic.” Besides when he does it it’s funny! And one time NotEnrique had caught Steve off guard and he _may_ have screamed…in a very high pitched voice…okay maybe he had shrieked…and sort of jumped in front of Eli protectively. NotEnrique would _still_ bring that up and laugh. So yeah, one more time and he’s kicking him like a football.

   “You kind of do.” He teased. “Plus my logic is kickass and never wrong.” Steve quirked an eyebrow and gave him a look. “Sometimes wrong.” Eli corrected.

   Steve chuckled, shaking his head. “Fucking nerd.”

   “Slow down Stevie, we just got together.” He replied coolly.

   “What- **Eli**!!” Steve shouted; face blooming red as he understood what Eli had been implying. Eli just laughed and ran ahead. Too easy.

 

   “I told you, I fucking told you!” Steve exclaimed as they were, once again, mapping out the tunnels of the cave. How big was this place?! It seemed like every time they finished one tunnel two more popped up! And how if they hadn’t been leaving marks every so often Steve would have been convinced that they were going in circles.

   “Yes Stevie, you already stated that about ten times.” Eli said absentmindedly as he marked down the route they were on.

   “I think it was elven actually.” NotEnrique said from his place on Steve’s shoulder.

   Couldn’t the little Troll just go somewhere else? Steve was pretty sure that this whole exploring thing would be much more enjoyable if it was only Eli and he. Then again they might not get much done that way. Sure Steve thought this pretty much every time that they were down here but now that he actually had permission to kiss him…it just conflicted him more. He shook his head, now wasn’t the time for those kinds of things, this was serious, the whole reason why they were down here in the first place wasn’t a game. They were training.

   Then again Jim was always seemed to be so good with balancing his training and his personal life. Steve groaned, would it be lame if he asked Lake for advice on that sort of thing?

   “Stop your complaining, remember I’m taking time away from my tunnel guarding duties to help you two with this.” NotEnrique snapped, thinking that the groan was in complaint to the cave mapping.

   “You chose to help.” Eli pointed out still writing as he walked. He would have walked into a wall if Steve hadn’t grabbed his collar and stopped him.

   “Watch where you’re going, I don’t need you running into walls.” Steve lectured, putting an arm around Eli’s shoulder so he could lead him as they walked (he wasn’t conflicted about this decision because it had become second nature at this point). “Where even are we?” He was fairly sure that they had never been in that part of the tunnels before. A quick look around proved him right as there were no marks. It was pretty cold and the air had a certain stillness to it (despite it being one of the sunniest zones of the caves that they’ve seen), not like the other parts of the tunnel that breezes wafted through every so often.

   “Ah…” Eli finally looked up from his work and looked around as well before shrugging. “I don’t know.”

    “What?! But you’re the one with the map!” Steve shouted. Great, let’s get lost in a creepy ass cave! Hey, on the bright side that’s a pretty unique third date. 

   “I’m writing it as we go.” He reminded. “Do you know where we are?” he directed the question to NotEnrique. 

   “Well with how distracting your mumbling was I may have lost track a few turns back.” NotEnrique admitted. The Creepslayerz groaned. Just their luck. “Quit your griping! There-” he lifted his head up and gave a sniff. “Huh, interesting.”

   “What is it?” Eli asked curiously, tilting his head.

    NotEnrique shushed him and lifted his head up once more giving another deep inhale. “Huh.” He repeated, climbing off of Steve’s shoulder and went over to the wall a few paces in front of them, sniffing around it like a meddlesome dog. “I haven’t been here before…hold on. You, Steve, give it a kick.”

    “You want me to kick a wall?” Steve deadpanned, walking with Eli to the wall that NotEnrique was waiting in front of.

   “Yeah, right…” he groped around the wall before pointing at a place. “Right here.” He couldn’t wrap his brain around it but there was something, _something_ behind there. Something made NotEnrique to stay away from whatever was on the other side. So he went with the complete opposite of what his instincts were telling him.

    “I think you should too.” Eli agreed but he was feeling the complete opposite of what NotEnrique was. He felt drawn like a magnet. In reality NotEnrique never gave them instructions of where to go, just told them where they were and how to get back and allowed them to wander. But since not too long ago Eli had been leading where they went and had almost walked into a wall as a result.

    Steve shrugged. “If you say so, out of the way, runt.” He told NotEnrique who quickly moved out of the way. He reeled his leg back and gave a swift kick, where he hit crumbled, giving a small opening. Well no way was he fitting through that. NotEnrique on the other hand… “Okay you wanted it clear there you go.”

    “What?! Why do I have to go in?!” NotEnrique argued.

   “It’s not like Eli or me fit. Besides, you were the one who wanted that hole kicked in.” Steve said matter of factly before making shooing motions at the Changeling. “Off you go.”

   “You can do it.” Eli encouraged, giving him a thumbs up.

   “You should take lessons from your boyfriend about being more encouraging.” NotEnrique grumbled before squeezing through the crevice in the wall. Steve didn’t deny the title this time.

   “Can we trade him for the flour sack? Please?” He pleaded.

   “No!” Eli laughed, tucking his notes under his arm. He went over with Steve to the wall that he had almost smacked into, sitting down against it and letting out a sigh, happy to rest his legs.

   “How much did you write down for the map?” Steve questioned, looking over as Eli spread the notes out in front of him to organize. “Are you sure you don’t need me to work on it too?”

   “It’d be too confusing to decipher it if you wrote down your version too; as long as you memorize this one then we’re good. I think I got three more pages down, no wait four, wait when it this one from-hold on.” Eli rifled through his mess of papers that he swore that he would organize eventually while Steve laughed at how he fumbled with the catastrophe of pages.

    Eli gave a brief explanation of what he had mapped out so far, over twenty tunnels and over half of those branched out into more while some led to dead ends. It was almost as if it was designed to be a labyrinth. They still had no clue how extensive this whole place was or how deep it went and neither knew if they ever would. Steve listened closely as the other explained and even threw in an idea or two. But he was never get over how soothing he found Eli’s voice when he was explaining things like this; it was never going to fail to hypnotize him. (I’m pretty sure Steve is tone deaf at this point, people.)

    So that’s probably why he was so surprised when a pair of warm lips settled over his own in a firm but gentle kiss. He gave a muffled noise of surprise but kissed back nonetheless. The other broke the kiss and smiled (more like smirked) at his surprised expression. “You were looking at me like you wanted something.” Eli explained innocently, going back to his notes.

   “Eli! That’s not fair!” Steve objected, a faint pink colour painting his cheeks. How was this little imp always able to get one over him damn it! He was supposed to be the suave one even if he did **_like_** it when Eli got bold and surprised him-yeah no, brain now is not the time, back.

   “Then what would be fair?” Eli asked. Could he help it if he wanted to make up for every missed kiss that they could have had if they had only told each other their feelings sooner? He got embarrassed at that thought but smiled a bit when he pictured the look on Steve’s face had he said that out loud.

   “I don’t know! Something that doesn’t just-I don’t know!” He argued causing Eli to (try and) hide a laugh behind his hand. “You’re not fair.” Steve muttered, cupping the other’s face with a hand. Eli sighed and leaned into the touch. “Definitely not fair.” He repeated before leaning in and kissing him.

    Steve didn’t know what the proper etiquette was for kissing, how many times you could do so since telling a person you care about them or how many times a day was proper but he did know that he was never going to get tired of the way Eli’s mouth fit with his, how just a simple kiss sent his head spinning, made his knees weak and had his heart pounding wildly in his chest.

   Eli wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck pulling him closer, tilting his head and deepening the kiss, smiling when he practically felt Steve’s breath hitch. Steve shifted where he sat, pressing Eli’s back against the wall they were leaning against, pulling back momentarily to breathe before diving back in. God Eli was too good at this; his fingers in his hair made goosebumps erupt on his neck and sent chills down his spine. If even an innocent kiss made him like this then Steve was never going to survive.

    “Aha! I so called it!” NotEnrique exclaimed triumphantly, re-emerging from the hole in the wall. Whatever else he was going to say was cut off by the Creepslayerz giving a shout of surprise and jumping.

   “Okay you little football that’s it-!” Steve was interrupted by a loud cracking noise. Eli had jumped back onto the wall on the cave which was now erupting in a spider web of cracks which was all the warning either got before it caved inwards, Eli letting out a scream as he fell backwards into the crevice. “Eli!” Steve shouted, reaching out for him. A heartbeat passed where they both caught each other’s eye, fingertips brushing against each other but not quite grasping before Eli was falling like Alice down the rabbit hole.

    It was so different from that slide that they took to get to the main hall, that one was smooth and sleek, this one was the complete opposite, rough rocks made his flesh scream as they were scraped mercilessly against the sharp edges. He tumbled through ancient cobwebs and he was certain that he had felt something alive brush past him in the pitch black tunnel that seemed to go on forever as gravity forced him further into the darkness. He tried grabbing onto something, anything, but was rewarded with shredded palms. There was a sudden sharp turn that Eli had barely managed to shield his head from and the dark tunnel was filled with blinding light.

   The cave practically spit him onto the hard floor, he landed on his hands and knees, panting and not knowing where the hell he was. He crawled forward and moved into sitting position, wincing. Seriously, one day without falling or being thrown in some place or having a moment with Steve interrupted, was that so much to ask? It was as if someone liked doing this to him.

   Wait had he landed on his back? He looked down and there was bright sunlight steaming in. He looked up…and he saw darkness, just a rock ceiling. He looked down again, squinting, the whole floor was glowing like the sun, it was warm like afternoon sunlight but it _wasn_ ’ _t_ the sun. He knew that much. Eli couldn’t be upside down because if he was his hair would be upside down and his glasses would have fallen off by now. There were golden specks floating through the air, like yellow dandelion puffs. But they never touched the ground, the just floated around as if there was no gravity. Beautiful, but it didn’t make Eli any less alarmed.

   Was whatever on the floor some kind of moss or other living organism? Well it didn’t feel like moss. Now that he thought about it…he passed his hand along the floor as if petting it. It didn’t feel like _anything_ just warm. It didn’t _feel_ tangible, but he was sitting on it so it must be right? What about what was in the air? Eli looked back up at the ceiling. Yup, there was no opening. He looked down on the floor. It didn’t hurt to look at like the sun did. He looked around at the rest of the space. It wasn’t that large like the rest of the rooms that they had discovered. The walls were plain, unnaturally so and smooth, no stalactites or stalagmites to be seen and there was no opening in the ceiling like the rest of the rooms, it looked like it had been made, like a rock coloured panic room. He stood up and gave a breath of relief when he didn’t fall through the floor-whatever he was standing on.

    There was a scream and a thump behind him, causing him to swing around, ready to kick whatever it was, or run away, whichever worked. Steve groaned and sat up, clutching his head and cursing under his breath before looking up and spotting him, relief flooding through him. “Are you okay?”

   Eli’s arms and legs were scratched up, his palms were bleeding, he was covered in cobwebs and at least a million years’ worth of dust, grime and more unmentionable things and he was standing on something that he had no clue what it was. “Yeah, I’m fine! What about you?! You shouldn’t have jumped in here!” he asked, running over to him and checking him over.

   “Oh come on, you know I’d jump into some dark potentially dangerous hole for you any day. Besides it’s already becoming routine at this point.” Steve joked. Eli gave him an unamused look. “Okay, okay, sorry for jumping in after you.” He looked around the room and gaped. “Whoah…” he looked down at the floor. “Whoah.” He poked at it. “Whoah!”

   “Okay, I get it! Whoah!” Eli exclaimed, trying not to laugh at Steve’s reaction. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

   “And I’m pretty sure you never will again.” NotEnrique said, climbing down a wall that had a hole in it. So that’s where the hole had led to. “As I was going to say before you two lovebirds overreacted and caused a wall to cave was ‘hey you’re not going to believe what’s on the other side of this wall’. I called it by the way.”

   “We get it you called it.” Steve mumbled, standing up and dusting off his pants. “I think we should get Blinky, this doesn’t seem normal, even by Creepslayer standards.” He continued. Eli nodded in agreement.

   “That’s not a good idea.” NotEnrique dismissed, shaking his head.

   “Why not?” Eli asked. This place was so odd and as far as he could remember, nothing like this existed naturally on Earth; nothing with this level of bioluminescence or with this…feeling. It wasn’t a solid or a gas, it obviously wasn’t a liquid, it just…was. And whenever something wasn’t natural it was usually linked to Trolls, well Eli had a theory about aliens but one thing at a time.

   “The floor, whatever it is, has sunlight properties. We Changelings can sense these kinds of things, sometimes we’re used to scout ahead in unknown places because of this. Blinky and Aargh set one foot in this place and-well you know that that’s not a pretty picture.”

   “Shit, yeah let’s not do that.” Steve agreed. “Well then how do we get out of here? Because I for one am not climbing up that creepy ass tunnel again.”

   “I could try to widen up that hole you made.” NotEnrique shrugged. “But I think you guys are going to have to use the tunnel.”

   “Fuck me.” Steve groaned. That thing had felt steep enough on the way _down_! Now to have to go back up the same way?!

   “I’ll leave that to your boyfriend.” NotEnrique said dully, giving a smug smile.

   “Listen here you fucking fairy baby!” Steve began, only to be cut off by NotEnrique reminding that he was a Changeling.

   Eli laughed as the two argued back and forth. Normally he would have cut them off but hey, it was fun to watch, he deserved some fun after that hell ride. Especially with how flustered it made Steve. There was a tap on his shoulder and Eli turned around, no one was behind him. But there, in the middle of the room was a rock, almost like a podium, that certainly not been there before. The floating golden puffs circled around it. Stranger still was what was on it, a necklace. It was simple, just a black cord with a small pale blue gem on it but Eli couldn’t take his eyes off it. The soft glow of the floating puffs made look like it was shining in the dark.

   “Check this out.” Eli called, already walking up to the podium. He still had no clue where that had come from. The golden puffs moved out of his way. Where those things alive?

   “Whoah.” Steve said yet again. “That wasn’t there before.”

   “I think…I think we should take this to Blinky.” Said Eli, only a hint of uncertainty in his voice. Part of him was saying that they shouldn’t mess with anything in that cavern but the majority of him was telling him that they _had_ to take it, that _he_ had to take it.

   Steve nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Blinky and Aargh can’t come down here apparently and mysterious necklaces popping up out of nowhere? Seems something that they’d be interested in.”

   Eli nodded as well and took a deep breath. He laid a hand on the necklace and didn’t get electrocuted or die or anything so he picked it up, flinching as he waited for _something_ to happen. Nothing did.

   Well nothing happened for a second at least. Then there was a low rumbling that had Eli thinking of that classic scene from that Indiana Jones movie where he was chased by a giant boulder. His eyes widened and he looked around for some sort of bobby trap unfolding but saw none. What he did see however was the tunnel that he and Steve had some crashing through widen into a neat arch way and the rough rocks, the ones he could see at least, formed stairs. The golden puffs, Eli was certain that they were alive at this point, went through the tunnel, neatly lining it like torches.

   “No way.” Eli breathed, clutching the necklace in his hand. It seemed to throb like a heartbeat.

   “Way.” Steve said, equally in awe and let out a breathless laugh. “That was amazing. We are definitely showing this to Blinky now. Race ya!” he took off running. NotEnrique had been in a somewhat state of shock but took off at the sound of a challenge.

   “No fair! You two cheaters!” Eli accused, slipping the necklace on, tucking it under his shirt for good measure, and taking off running after them.

   

   It seemed to take forever to get back; luckily they had bought some burgers before coming to the caves so they wouldn’t have to leave for lunch. They unpacked them from Eli’s backpack, ate and kept walking. Steve insisted the fact that there was an extra burger for NotEnrique was pure coincidence. Eventually they were able to get to the main cavern and were able to find Blinky who was busy talking to Aargh but smiled instantly when he spotted them. “Already done for today?” he asked.

   “Sort of, we kind of found something that we thought that you should see.” Steve said.

   “Have you ever seen anything like this?!” Eli exclaimed excitedly, fishing out the necklace from underneath his shirt. “There was this wall that just gave in and a huge tunnel,” he was still musty and covered in dust and spider webs despite his efforts to brush them off. “And there was this room, it was gorgeous! But NotEnrique said that the floor was made up of something that was like sun so you guys couldn’t go in. But then this podium appeared out of nowhere and-” Eli stopped his babbling when he caught the look on Blinky’s face, awe mixed with a touch of fear, his six eyes wide and jaw hanging open.

   “You _found_ this?!” He whispered harshly. Scratch that, more than a touch of fear.

   “Yeah, in this old cave like Eli said,” Steve confirmed. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Even Aargh looked spooked.

   “Hide that!” Blinky snapped, keeping his voice to a loud whisper. Eli jumped and dropped the necklace back under his shirt again, looking like a child that had just been scolded.

   “Oi, you’re scaring them Blinks.” NotEnrique scowled. “Now you obviously know what this damned thing is so instead of freaking them out tell us what it is.”

   Blinky instantly looked sorry. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out shakily. His voice was low as if in fear that someone would overhear. No one was close by. “That. Is Merlin’s Tear.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEFORE I GET INTO THIS, SOMETHING MUST BE SAID. DIFFERENT. COUPLES. MOVE. AT. DIFFERENT. PACES.  
> NOW TO EXPLAIN SOME THINGS: It's said that Vendel sensed a Heartstone in Arcadia after Gunmar corrupted the other one but...there are Heartstones all over the world, why did he specifically sense that one? And what's more is that Strickler could have built the Killahead bridge anywhere in the world, he could have built it somewhere that didn't have a Trollhunter, yes he needed the amulet but he could have built it elsewhere thus protecting it from the Trollhunter and THEN acquire the amulet. These are just a few of the things that lead me to believe that there is SOMETHING else in Arcadia hidden away. Eli said it himself, Arcadia is a hotspot for supernatural activity. So yeah, that's my theory, get wrecked.  
> But enough about my (kickass) theories, what theories do YOU guys (gals, and others) have? Just what could Merlin's tear be? (I really really want to see what you guys think.) Oh and Eli is a fucking tease ain't he? XD  
> OKAY IMPORTANT! THE NEXT PART WILL BE DELAYED DUE TO PERSONAL REASONS. I APOLOGIZE BUT IT IS HOW IT IS. But I do have some of it mapped out so that counts for something???  
> I think that the next part will be called 'Discovery' I THINK. You know since they've discovered that, since they still have things to discover about each other, etc.  
> SO, THIS HAS BEEN 'MOMENTS LIKE THIS' UNTIL NEXT TIME. I drew an art of Gwen that I fucking love, my tumblr is captain my life is fandoms But it's all smushed up so it would be captainmylifeisfandoms I put the drawing there along with some other crappy sketches XD Get wrecked. I almost don't want to hit post...But that wouldn't be fair to you guys (gals and others) so here.  
> OKAY, AS I SAID THAT THIS WORK WILL BE DELAYED DUE TO PERSONAL REASONS  
> Man, even after getting that personal shit sorted out I'm having a horrible bout of writer's block. I welcome y'all to try and inspire my sorry ass because I absolutely hate not being able to write.


End file.
